What You Once Believed
by Kaitou-Dark-Sama
Summary: What happens when the person you idolize turns out to be the kind of person you don't want to be. When the forces of life make it so you have no one left to turn to. See how Riku tries to cope with such problems. Rated M- Violence, mature themes/language
1. It Was Enough

The door slammed loudly behind the silver haired boy as he started storming down the street in a fit of rage. He could still hear faint yelling from the direction of the house he had just stormed from, that and the yelling of the words he had just yelled were ringing fresh through his mind, he was extremely glad that he had finally gotten the guts to say all that to those incredulous bastards. But the rage they had brought up in him kept him from having any other emotion and kept him moving in a blazing heat of fury through the winter air that cut into his bare arms and face, though the piercing cold went unnoticed. He just kept walking, pressing forward in his fury, wanting to put as much distance as he could between himself and the people he so reluctantly called his 'parents.'

Slowly though, the heat started to ebb away and was replaced by the biting cold that had been surrounding him, and the cold suddenly becoming almost too much to bear. He suddenly wanted to go home, and wished he hadn't said those things now, wished he had waited for at least warmer before infuriating himself and his parents to this level…he knew he wouldn't be able to go back any time soon and he didn't want to unless it was necessary, he wondered if he would be able to sneak in the window of his room in the morning to get his school stuff. He was pretty sure it was possible, unless his parents had bolted his window and burned all his stuff already. He sighed and dropped down onto the curb, his head in his hands as he thought over what he was going to do tonight. With a glance at his watch he found it was two in the morning and nothing would be open, so he was pretty sure he was stuck out here in the freezing cold in a t-shirt and jeans and a pair of sneakers.

The night air was silent, there was no one out and everything was just completely silent. He heard foot steps pass him every once and a while, but very rarely. He kept his eyes plastered to the asphalt under his feet he wished he hadn't stopped so close to the large buildings of the large down. He lived on the outskirts of this building maze and he had always lived there, just out of the reach of civil life, but it wasn't like he could leave, he had been stuck out here in the same house forever, it was cozy, it was quaint, but it was like a prison and he hated it. The only reason he didn't leave was because his parents prevented his money flow and kept him chained not far from his house. The city was always just in his reach, yet so far away, and it was something that really frustrated him.

He hadn't been expecting anyone to even notice him sitting there, he expected any suits that might be leaving later or headed for a night shift to just ignore him and walk by, so when someone said, "Riku!" he jumped slightly before whipping his head around to see who had said his name, the voice had been familiar. And he almost gaped at the person who was standing not very far behind him. His neck cracked from the sudden movement and his hair now distorted his vision, but this was someone he would be able to spot no matter where. He had known this man since he was eight years old…and even in the dim light of a flickering street lamp not far off, he could immediately tell who it was.

The man was at least half a foot taller then Riku, which would be normal because Riku was three years this man's junior. His spiky blond hair incredibly noticeable in the artificial light, his pale skin blemish-free and his blue eyes glowing as they pierced Riku like the wind that had numbed his arms. A cigarette in this mans mouth the smoke drifting upwards slightly, the man was dressed in dark clothes, from his leather gloves to leather jacket to his straight black pants and shining black boots. He was so familiar; this was the Cloud Strife he had known for years. Riku had honestly thought he would never see him again. Cloud was one of the only of his type of people that had actually graduated high school. Riku was sure that the path he chose in life did not involve what Cloud had turned his out to be, no matter how much he idolized Strife…he couldn't help but be a bit ashamed of how he had turned out.

Riku had known Cloud since Riku was eight and in grade three, and Cloud was eleven and in grade six. Cloud was the person that Riku always hung out with, Cloud was his next door neighbor for three years, but Cloud moved around the time for a bigger house in the city and Riku had been sure the he would never see him again. Cloud had been the person Riku turned to for everything, he was smart and had the answers to all Riku's question, and taught Riku everything his parents and the schools didn't. He thought he was the coolest kid ever because Cloud had taught him to swear and about sex, drugs and violence. He was even sure that getting detentions and having his parents yell at him for the things he said during class and at home were pretty cool because that stuff didn't even happen to Cloud, which meant Riku must've known more then Cloud. Now that he thought back, though, he realized how stupid he had been. Sure he had known a lot about bad things, and this even gave him a social status in his later grades, and even on the verge of popularity. Though the things he said and did were all influenced by Cloud, Riku never once blamed the blond for how his parents treated him… The day he beat up a couple kids for calling this so called Cloud 'fake and stupid' was probably he day his parents really started to hate him, but the kids had it coming. The two kids moved away within the week. Riku was sure that Cloud would only ever come up in stories from then on, he was sure Cloud was out of his life for good. Then as a freshman he got to see Cloud again. Cloud was a senior at the same school and he hadn't been happier in his life, and the immediate recognition among the seniors gave him a very high status within the school, if people picked on him if Riku didn't beat him out, Cloud and his gang would beat on them. Cloud's gang had been tough, Riku remembered a lot of them, and some of them hadn't been all that bright and still went to the school. The group consisted of: Squall (Riku wasn't sure if it was a nickname or his actual name, but he was a cold person), Zack (he wasn't that bad of a person, but he still had honor and wouldn't let anyone take that from him), Reks (He had always seemed shy and quiet but he was tough), Tifa (She…was just kickass, and not someone anyone wanted to get pissed off), Edge (He was some sort of ninja kid and was let into the group even though he was in grade 11), Kain (He was a tough one to read…), Nero and Weiss (It's hard to count them as two separate people because they would never leave the other's side, ever). These were the people no one wanted to piss off and Riku was one of the lucky few to be let into the group so young, but with Cloud being their leader it wasn't that hard of a feat. The next year with Cloud gone, Squall was the new leader, since he had failed a couple classes he couldn't graduated, so he was staying another year, and that was pretty much it… After Cloud graduated, he was sure he would never see the blond again, yet here he was, standing a few feet away from him, and it really was something of a miracle, maybe Cloud could give him a place to stay for the night.

The blond sat down beside Riku. "It's been a while," he said after a drag, holding his cigarette the embers glowing orange at the end. The blond looked at Riku then the lit roll in between his fingers as he flicked the burnt end and the ashes fell to the ground, making a tiny crater in the snow. "How's the group…? Squall still goes to school right?" the nineteen year old said to the sophomore, looking down at him with a questioning look.

Riku shrugged, leave it to Cloud to not even bring up the fact that Riku is sitting out in the cold in a t-shirt, freezing his ass off. "Well…it's all right, there aren't many member's anymore… There's Squall, Edge, and I, and we recruited a few more people…Reks' little brother Vaan… He's a bit weak and a bit of a pussy, but we'll break him. There's Fran. She's new in grade eleven…she's a real cold person, she's VERY intense, she's already beat Edge and Vaan twice. There's Tidus, he seems too…nice though…but we figured having a popular jock like him that looked up to us would be an all right addition. We finally let Seifer in…I don't know why Squall finally broke, but he let us add him to the group…maybe it's because having two people in a victory lap would make as even more intimidating," Riku explained with a sigh. "So next year I get to be in charge of the group." Riku said with a sigh of relief, it was great to hear himself say that. Edge would be graduating and Squall would be gone to. It would leave Riku being the veteran member and make him the most qualified. It really was a great thought.

Cloud nodded and smiled, "I'm proud of you, kid…" he said.

Riku couldn't help but swell with pride at the compliment. Suddenly something was draped over his shoulder and he looked at Cloud in shock and saw the man in a black sweater and noted that Cloud's leather jacket was over his shoulder and Riku quickly shoved his arms into it. "You looked a little cold," Cloud stated. "Anyway, what are you doing out here in the freezing cold?" the blond asked.

"I could ask you the same thing." Riku retorted.

Cloud smirked. "Business," was his short reply, and it really meant so much and made Riku shudder, even though he was suddenly warm as he inhaled the smoke off Cloud's jacket subconsciously. "Now how about you? Something wrong at home?"

Riku snorted.

"You finally snapped at your parents, didn't you?" Cloud asked, shaking his head and letting out a sigh as he threw his cigarette on the ground, rubbing it into the concrete with the toe of his boot.

Riku nodded. "I just couldn't stand it anymore."

Cloud stood up and held out a gloved hand to help Riku up, "You can stay at my place, I don't mind. I was about to head home anyway." Riku didn't want to think about why Cloud would be way out here, so far from his apartment at this time at night. It was as Cloud had said before; business.

Riku took Cloud's hand and pulled himself to his feet with a sigh. "Thanks, I can't go home yet. They're probably still up and pissed off," Riku said, rolling his eyes as the two men set off down the street towards Cloud's apartment building.

Cloud nodded in understanding, and for the rest of the walk the two were relatively silent. Riku was, in all honesty, far too cold to even bother to try and strike up a conversation, and it didn't matter because soon the two walked into the very open lobby of Cloud's apartment building. Riku looked around and saw a man at a counter not far away who shook his head and sighed, "Cloud, Cloud, Cloud… You should really get better sleep then you do." The man, who Riku identified as the night manager, said to the blond.

"Shut up. No one asked you," Cloud retorted, not even looking at the man as he walked towards the elevator. Cloud pushed the button to call the elevator down and the man continued to talk to him.

"That another one of your 'boys', Strife? He's a bit young, don't you think…you really are a filthy, truly disgusting person," he said.

Riku had never EVER heard anyone talk to Cloud like that in his life, and his eyes opened wide in pure shock.

"I told you to shut the fuck up and keep out of it. This is an old friend, so don't you DARE put him into the same category as ANY others you see me with," Cloud exclaimed, his blue eyes daggers as the elevator doors opened and he walked in. Riku followed the blond quickly and noticed the blond impatiently pushing the button to close the doors as the night manager started to cackle.

Finally, the doors closed and Cloud hit the number fifteen, the button started to glow, and Riku decided to keep his gaze pinned onto that button instead of looking at Cloud, who he could tell was furious.

"Don't mind him. He's just got something against me…" Riku chanced a glance over at the blond as Cloud spoke and, the blond forced a smile onto his face. "Probably because I'm so beautiful." Riku cracked a smile too, though he could tell it looked forced and fake. He wiped it off and stared at the glowing button again and listening to the ping as they passed each floor. It had grown suddenly awkward and he couldn't wait to curl up on Cloud's couch or even the floor and go to bed, because he suddenly realized just how tired the night's events had really made him and as the elevator doors opened on the fifteenth floor he could barely suppress a yawn as he followed Cloud down the hall and started pulling off the smoke laced leather jacket. He could barely drag his feet as Cloud unlocked the door and opened it with a sharp smack with his shoulder.

It was at that moment though that Riku realized this was his first time in Cloud's apartment, he had heard from Squall that Cloud's parents had kicked him out late last year because they found out how Cloud had been getting money. The apartment wasn't small, but it wasn't huge. Riku thought it was perfect for a person's first house and it was very awesome that Cloud was the exact same as he had been when the two were children; secretive and neat. There was nothing anywhere that Riku could use against him and everything had a spot where it belonged, though there wasn't much anyway. In the living room they had just walked into there was a couch and a coffee table in front of the TV Cloud had had since he was eleven, on the other side of the room there was a desk with a computer on it and beyond that, a window that stretched across the entire wall, to the door that led to the balcony. To the left there was a door way that led to the kitchen, though Riku couldn't see it in the darkness of the room, the only light coming from the moon outside the window. To the right was a hallway with another three doors, obviously one was the bathroom and one the bedroom, but Riku wasn't quite sure what the other door was.

Cloud pointed at the couch, catching Riku's attention back from scanning the room. "It's a pull-out. You can sleep there," the blond said. Riku looked down and saw Cloud hadn't taken off his boots and put them by the door, Riku did the same with his ratty sneakers.

"Thanks, Cloud," Riku said, scratching the back of his head. Cloud walked off down the hall and Riku went to the trouble of moving the coffee table to the side and pulling out the couch into an uncomfortable looking bed as Cloud came back with a bunch of sheets that he chucked onto the bed. Riku smiled and crawled onto the bed.

"Well, I'm going to bed. I'll talk to you in the morning, all right?" Riku said pulling a blanket up to his chin.

"All right. 'Night, Riku." Cloud said before walking off down the hall, but Riku was asleep right as the older man said his name. It was a very nice sleep, surrounded by a smell he had been familiar with since he was little.

* * *

** *sigh* i've been working on this story for the past week and its coming along great...I just thought I'd put up the first chapter...also...i dont know when i will be putting up stuff for my other stories...ive been lacking creativity.  
-Fire **


	2. So Familiar

Water was running, and there was a warm sense as Riku's eyes fluttered open. His heart accelerated as he realized he wasn't at home in bed, but slowed again as he realized that he was at Cloud's apartment and had stayed there the whole night. He sighed and shoved his face into the blankets he had cocooned himself in again. It smelt like Cloud and it reminded him of when he was young again and he hung out at Cloud's house all the time, and had sleepovers with the older boy, though back then the smell of cigarette smoke wasn't laced into everything he owned. There was sound coming from the kitchen through the wall near his head, and Riku relaxed to it, thoughts of his parents and school and every trouble he ever faced slowly disappeared...this was bliss.

Unfortunately though he did have to force himself up. It was a Tuesday and he had to go to school. He pushed himself into a sitting position and glanced around. The light that he hadn't really noticed from the large window shined in his face and made him groan. He glanced down at his watch...he was way too late... At best he could get to school for his afternoon classes. Of course Cloud hadn't woken him up; Cloud was the kind of person to only show up for half the day because he had been too tired to get out of bed that morning.

Looking around again he saw Cloud stick his head out from around the corner and smirk at him though his face looked tired and his hair stuck out at weirder angles then usual. "Good morning. You going to school?" the blond asked.

"Yeah...I'll get in even more trouble with my folks if I start ditching school," Riku said, rolling his eyes and glaring to the side.

Cloud smirked. "I'm sure they'd be fine with it if you said you were just hanging out with your old friend Cloud," he said with a laugh before disappearing back into the kitchen.

Riku rolled his eyes but pulled himself out of bed. "Cloud?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you have any clothes that could possibly fit me?" Riku asked, looking down at the clothes he had slept in, the same damn clothes he had worn yesterday.

"Probably. I should have a few things that are too tight for me...I still wear them...but you can borrow them. You can leave your clothes here. I'll clean them for you," Cloud explained.

Riku nodded, even though Cloud didn't see it. He walked down the hall that had been to his right and into the room he had seen Cloud disappear into. It was Cloud's bedroom. There was a desk on the far wall and a bed to his right pushed up against the wall. There was a small door to the side that obviously led to the closet. Though he was slightly worried, he opened the door none the less and looked around the cramped little room. There was a pole along the top with clothes hanging off of it. Riku went through them noting that the clothes got more revealing and smaller as he got closer to the right side. Obviously the clothes for 'business' and the ones he said Riku could wear. A sigh escaped his lips as he took out a pair of black skinny jeans, they were a little long as he held them up to himself, so he guessed they wouldn't be that bad. He figured he should wear the same shirt he was wearing, no matter what, none of Cloud's shirts would fit him. Cloud had such a different build, his shoulders were wider and his chest was more defined, while Riku was thin and had an almost feminine frame, but Cloud might be upset, so he took one of Cloud's black sweaters. It looked like it would be form fitting on Cloud, so he should be fine. He changed quickly and looked at himself in the mirror that Cloud had on the back of the door, and examined himself. It wasn't that bad, and the contrast between the black clothes and the silver, almost white hair on his head was interesting, and it made his skin tone look darker then it was. He nodded and shook his head a little, fiddling with his hair until it fell where he wanted it too.

Riku walked out of the room and walked down the hall, the pants weren't as tight as they looked like they would be, and the pooled very slightly at his ankle, overall they weren't uncomfortable. Cloud had put the couch back and was sitting on it and he smirked at Riku as he walked into the room, "Wow...you found something half decent. I know I've got a lot of black clothes, but it is a flattering colour on anyone."

Riku laughed and sat down next to Cloud with a loud sigh, he looked down at his watch again. It was already ten thirty, he would go to school for his afternoon periods. He was sure Squall and Seifer were going to beat on him for not being there, because they had all said they were going to beat on some freshmen that bashed them today. But he was sure they would listen if they heard he had been spending his time with Cloud. They had both been friends with Cloud, and they probably still were. "You don't have a car, do you, Cloud?" Riku asked turning his head to look at the blond who shook his head. Riku nodded, not all that surprised.

"You can't walk to school? I live so close," Cloud said with a laugh as though ashamed of the young man.

Riku scowled. "No, but I gotta go home and get my shit from my room," he said in a pissed voice. Cloud waved off the comment with a flick of his hand and smirked.

"No you don't. What classes do you have after lunch anyway?" Cloud asked with a cocked eyebrow.

Riku shrugged. "Art and Math," he said.

Cloud smirked, "You'll be fine. If you need a homework excuse be a bad ass and tell them your parents kicked you out and you had to stay on the street for the night, but was lucky enough that your dear friend Cloud found you and got your butt out of the freezing cold," he said with a laugh. Cloud sure was a rather...happy person out of school. When he was around other people though, he was a lot more placid and pissy. "For school stuff, you can use my old bag and stuff. I'll go get it, one sec." Cloud stood up and walked down the hall to his room again, as he walked away Riku noticed what he was wearing a white muscle shirt, despite the cold, and a pair of sweat pants and white socks. He couldn't remember the last time he had seen Cloud wear something baggy, it just didn't seem like the blonde's style, he was always the one to have clothes that clung to his skin and showed off his muscular frame.

Cloud came back within minutes and threw a rather old looking black back pack with a few tears in it and a bunch of pins stuck all over it. "There's stuff still in there. You can probably find everything you need," he said throwing the bag at Riku who caught it and looked it over one more time as Cloud sat back down next to him and turned on the TV, starting to zone out.

"Uh, Cloud?" Riku started, continuing when Cloud looked over at him. "Why exactly did your parent's kick you out?" he asked, trying to sound like it wasn't a weird topic to be discussing, though he noted how Cloud's face got all serious and his brow furrowed. Riku quickly added, "Squall was spreading shit! I just wanted to know what the real story was." It seemed to satisfy Cloud, though the stern look did not vanish.

"My parents found out about my job. I didn't think they would flip like they did. It was probably the fact I didn't tell them, but they managed to connect the dots themselves," Cloud explained with a sigh and a shrug. "They tried to tell me that it wasn't safe, I could get hurt or killed. They don't know anything, I'm not an idiot. I know how to get out of situations that will kill me. I thought they accepted me for who I was, no matter what. Apparently not..." he added with a scoff. "But I left. I was not kicked out. You better give that bastard a black eye for spreading shit about me," Cloud said looking at his friend, his eyes unintentional daggers and Riku almost flinched at how fierce he seemed a lot of the time, he had never seriously been on the receiving side of this mood and he'd rather it stay that way.

Riku nodded. "Yeah. I understand. Of course you wouldn't get kicked out. You're parents love you." Riku stood and stretched glancing down at his watch again, it was ten forty-five, he knew he had better start on his way to school. "I'm going to go, all right Cloud?" he said looking back at his friend.

Cloud nodded and stood up. "One sec…" The blond walked into the kitchen and Riku walked over to the door and put on his shoes, lacing them up as Cloud walked back to him and handed him a five dollar bill. "Get yourself something to eat, I can tell you haven't eaten since at least lunch yesterday," the man said. He was right. Cloud was really good at this kind of mind reading stuff and it had ceased to amaze Riku a while ago.

Riku nodded and smiled. "Thanks Cloud. I'll talk to you some other time, all right?"

"Of course, see ya'," Cloud said waving sharply with one hand and closing the door behind Riku as he started walking down the hallway. Riku pushed the button to call the elevator and looked down at his clothes, and adjusted the bag he had slung over one shoulder. He had to think for a little as to where exactly he was and how he would get to school. He was pretty sure that Reks and Vaan lived around here somewhere. He had been there once. He had walked there with the old gang to get ready for a fight that Reks would be taking part in. He knew where he was going and he sighed as the elevator opened, stepping in and hitting the G button.

When the door opened he remembered the night manager and looked around, but he had been replaced by a sweet looking young lady, who was chewing gum and looking around incredibly bored. Riku sighed as he walked by, he could feel her eyes on him as he walked across the lobby, which actually had people in it now and he almost looked back at her about to snap when she said did something he wasn't expecting and called, "Didja have a nice night with that homo, Strife?" Riku looked over his shoulder his eyes wide in shock and she just smirked at him, other people around looked at him and they looked either disgusted or confused, some had looks of understanding on their face. What the hell did Cloud do around here to get himself such a bad reputation. Riku ignored the bitch at the counter and walked out of the building quickly.

It was cold outside and the wind bit at his face and hands, and he was suddenly glad that, one; Cloud's shirt was big enough to cover his hands and shield them from the cold and, two; That Cloud lived so close to the school, because once he stepped outside he knew where he was going. As he walked, he passed a popular pizza place and stopped in and got a couple slices with the money Cloud had given him. He ate them slowly as he continued his walk down to the school, where lunch would have just started and he could probably find his group quickly when he got there and hopefully when they heard his reason Squall and Seifer wouldn't beat on him for being late.

He threw the paper plate he was given into the garbage placed on the sidewalk leading to the school. He resisted the urge to push it over, telling himself that he needed to conserve his energy to keep himself warm and he pressed on. He could see the warm school looming not that far in the distance. He knew lunch had already started and he couldn't wait to beat up those stupid freshmen, the thought made him move faster and faster and soon he was pushing open the door to the school with his shoulder and walking in, the sudden burst of hot air making him sigh in relief as he started down the hall towards the cafeteria.

* * *

**Ya, I wasn't going to put this up. I was arguing with myself over whether or not i should just put it up...i ended up, obviously deciding to put it up, but only because my friend did a really good editing 8D. Ya, but she kept changing Colour to Color, she does not understand the fact that i'm CANADIAN! We like to put Us after Os like the british.. oh well, please enjoy....  
-Fire **


	3. The Familiar Freshmen

He walked quickly down the long nearly student free hallway of the school towards the cafeteria where he hoped to find his group of friends at their usual table. He got a few stares as he walked down the hall, most from people who knew him, some of the looks were even slightly scared and some were completely adoring. Riku was very popular with the girls. Though he could honestly say he had never had a girlfriend before in his life, but he had a good reason. He had first been told by Cloud, then later found out by how Edge's girlfriends treated him, just what they were like. They would get with you because you're popular and hot and use that to boost there own social status. Riku liked sticking to rejecting all girls that asked him out openly, loudly and bluntly, it was hilarious to watch the egos they had built up for themselves falter and die. Edge's girlfriends were the perfect examples of those stereotypes, since Edge had been a part of the group that Riku had known of he had had eight girlfriends and he had admitted to having sex with three of them, though soon after that happened they would break up with him. It just seemed to be the way things rolled and Riku took it to heart and learned from it.

The end of the hallway loomed not three feet ahead of him and as he stepped through the threshold of the large room he had to blink a couple times to get used to the sudden light of the room. Not only were there many lights on the ceiling but on entire wall was glass, and all the light seemed to reflect off the dirty white walls. Riku simply shook his head and walked on, there were much more students here then there were in the hallways but they seemed to part ever so slightly as Riku walked through the hall, being as popular and well known as he was really did have his advantages, and he didn't care if they only ever listened to him because they were scared of him, it was all the same to him as he broke his way through the crowd until he got to the table where his gang was seated and took a seat on Squall's right. Seifer was sitting across from Squall, flanked by Tidus and Vaan, Edge sat on Squall's left and Fran stood leaning against the vending machine, Riku swore he had never seen her sit down before.

After scanning everyone and putting the bag Cloud had given him on the ground under the table between his legs he noticed all of them had eyes on him. "Where were you this morning?" Squall asked in a piercing tone, it was like he loved to seem superior and order people around, you could tell just by the tone of voice he used so regularly.

Riku shrugged and smirked slightly. "I got kicked out of my house last night, so I was out on the street 'till two in the morning. You'll never guess who found me out there, though?" he said with a huge toothy smile. He was pretty sure they would be able to guess, but they all gave him questioning glances anyway. "Cloud. He was on his way back home and picked me up off the street," he said with a laugh and a smile. Seifer shook his head and sighed. Vaan and Tidus looked at him in awe, Squall smiled and laughed ever so slightly, Edge burst into laughter and Fran looked completely un-phased, her eyes set on a spot on the table. They knew she was listening, no matter how zoned out she looked.

"How is he!?" Edge exclaimed loudly, practically standing up.

"He's good, he does live on his own now. Speaking of which…" he looked at Squall out of the corner and punched him in the cheek with enough force to make his face jerk to the side. "That's from Cloud…for lying about him." He said rubbing his knuckles on his pants. Squall rubbed his cheek and glared down at the sophomore before sighing and shrugging it off, the slightest of red marks left on his face.

Edge laughed, "Good ol' Cloud, I miss him all the time."

"Well, Cloud's gone…we should get over him, he's on a bad path and he's never coming back." Seifer said looking to the side at an unidentifiable spot on the wall. Squall sighed at the comment and Riku and Edge looked at him shocked, the other boys didn't seem to know how to react, and Fran didn't bother to react at all…as per usual  
Riku was about to say something, he slammed his hands on the top of the table as he stood up and he took a deep breath as he was about to start yelling as he was cut short…Fran looked up suddenly alert and looked at them. "Principal," she stated in her thick accent, the six boys looked around to see the principal walking towards them.

"Good day, boys. You aren't starting any trouble, I presume," the old man said with a smile, though he really did expect the seven of something. He was a new principal and he seemed to already have picked them out as the trouble makers…but he hadn't been around when Cloud was in charge…they had been much more feared back then, and the only reason he knew to keep an eye on them was because of the two vice principals the school had.

"Of course not, sir. Why would you say that?" Edge said with a smile, scratching the back of his head and laughing. Edge's gaze flicked to Riku and the silver haired boy took it as a signal to sit down, which he did, leaning forward and resting his chin on his elbow. He started to look around barely absorbing the conversation the others were having with the almost bald principal.

"Just making sure, it looked like you were getting rowdy," the principal said, then his gaze landed and rested on Seifer. "Seifer," he started, the scarred blond looked up at him, his eyes had a what-the-fuck-do-you-want look to them. "Hat off in the school, please," the old man said, pointing at his own shiny white head. He watched as Seifer pulled off his hat, his dirty blond hair so much of a mess that Edge almost laughed. This satisfied the principal and he went to leave. "Make sure to stay out of trouble, boys," he said, and just by looking at him, Riku would have expected him to add, 'ho ho ho,' to the end of that statement. When he was off and in the hall Seifer pulled his black hat back on and shot daggers at Edge who started to laugh.

While they talked, Riku had noticed a few students he thought looked…kinda familiar, yet he had never seen them before in his life. They were sitting at the table diagonal from the one their group was seated at, and they seemed to be having a good old time, laughing about something. It was just two of the group that seemed really weird…one was a spiky haired brunette boy who was standing up and talking loudly, though with the din of the lunch room he couldn't pick out the boys words, the other a girl with mahogany hair that fell to the shoulder. She was pink clad and seemed to be good friends with the exuberant looking boy. They both looked new here; the others they were hanging out with were freshmen, so he guessed they were too. One of the other girls was one he knew as Selphie. She and a sophomore, Rinoa, were Riku's biggest stalkers, so if he had to get information at any time…he knew who he would turn to…there was no way she wouldn't tell him.

He was brought back to the moving world as someone shook his shoulder and he looked up to see Edge looking down at him and everyone else standing a few feet away, "Come on, were going to go beat those stupid freshmen senseless now," he said with a smile.

"You know where they are?" Riku asked, stretching and standing up, picking up the bag Cloud had lent him and slinging it over his shoulder.

Edge laughed. "When do I NOT know where a target is? You should know me enough by now to know the kind of person I am," Edge said, as though him knowing the schedule of everyone in the school completely and utterly a given thing.

"Right. Of course I should have known. All right, lets go," Riku replied.

Edge looked at the clock and thought for a moment. "Okay…ten minutes 'till the bell. They should be going to the skater boy's locker, which is right above us." Edge mused, nodding, completely sure of his diagnosis and the seven started up the stairs. Tidus and Vaan fell to the back and they seemed to be a little uneasy, this was the first good beating the gang had gotten in this year. Others had just been meaningless fights that boys thinking they were tougher then them picked, most were against Riku, Squall, Edge and Seifer, though…but they liked to pin the burly guys against Fran…and last year the burly guys had gone to Tifa…just to prove that the girls were the kickass and it was always good to see some giants ego deflate after getting their ass served to them by a girl. This beating though was going to be split evenly. There were three people to fight, for today they would have Tidus as a guard watching for teachers.

They walked out into the nearly empty halls and the three boys were just where Edge said they would be. There were no teachers to the six, Tidus had stopped at the end of the hall and leaned against a wall, walked towards them. The skater with blond hair falling kind of in front of his face was getting stuff out of his locker and stuffing it into his back pack; he wore baggy clothes and chains on his pants. Another of them was leaning against the wall across the hall, he had huge purple headphones over his ear and half of his head face was hidden in his large collar, his orange hair spiked up at the back and down in he front. The last was leaning against the lockers and giggling about something, he wore jeans and had curly wheat coloured hair and a grey shirt to match. They had no idea what they were in for.

Squall kicked the locker next to the giggling boy to get their attention, "Yo. You three been spreading crap about us?" he asked.

The skater closed his locker and looked at them, about to say something; the purple clad one took his headphones off and hung them around his neck and took a step towards his friend. The last one turned as though he had expected them to be there the entire time, he laughed and flipped his hair over his shoulder. "So what if we did?" he asked in his feminine tone, and the other two suddenly looked grave as though they suddenly knew what was coming.

Squall took another step forward and the fact that he was six foot three was really apparent now. "Riku," he stated sharply and the silver haired boy knew what to do. He dropped the bag off his back and was as quickly as humanly possible behind the freshmen. He had the boy's arms held behind his back as Squall grabbed this boy's, Joshua's, shoulders and slammed him down onto his knee. Joshua made a grunt and a gasp as all the air was knocked out of him. Riku let go of him and he fell to his knees where Riku's foot connected between his shoulder blades and sent him sprawling onto the floor in front of Squall who stepped on the back of his head, slowly applying more pressure. Around him, Riku could tell the others had started beating the other two. Fran and Edge were beating on the skater, Beat, and Seifer and Vaan had the other, Neku, pinned against the wall. Riku heard skin smacking skin, random grunts, groans and gasps from the victims and it was incredibly exhilarating as he continued to help Squall with taking care of Joshua.

Only a minute or so in, they heard a sudden "Hey!" from a new voice. The six beating on the freshmen looked over at the brunette who was running towards them, shock and anger on his smooth young features. He stopped not far from them and had his fists clenched at his sides, his eyes locked on Squall, obviously picking him out as the leader. Squall glared back at him as he put his foot squarely between Joshua's shoulder's blade ignoring the small pool of blood that had formed. It looked as though it was coming from Joshua's nose, but the boy might've coughed it up earlier. Riku had no way of knowing. "You guys can't do that! What the hell gives you the right!?" the brunette shouted. Riku looked past the brunette knowing that what he was saying was incredibly stupid and was going to get him beaten up. Riku's eye landed on the girl he had been with earlier. The other new kid, why did they look so familiar, he knew for a fact he hadn't met them before. The girl was standing across from Tidus, who looked confused and more focused on the new argument then what he was supposed to be doing.

Squall jerked his head slightly and everyone let go of who they had been holding and gathered behind him. Riku did as well and the took a few steps forward with Squall as he go off of Joshua and approached this other freshmen who had the guts to talk to them like that. Riku didn't turn back. That was something he had learned to do, but could tell Neku and Beat were helping Joshua up and leaving, probably getting a teacher. They could not stay here long if they didn't want to get in trouble. "We gave ourselves this fucking right. Obviously you're new, but you should have figured this out quickly. We are NOT the guys you want to talk to like that. In fact, we'll give you your first lesson on that right now. Riku!" It was the same command as before and quickly Riku was behind this boy and hand a grip on his arms, though Squall took his time walking over. The boy was tiny; he had no meat on his bones and almost no muscle on his arms, why the hell did he pick a fight with Squall. But his pulse was steady and he did not fight Riku's grasp, as though he was completely accepting the fact that he was going to be beat, and that was only proven when Squall's fist connected with the boy's nose with enough force for his head to jerk backwards and for him to squeak in pain. Though Riku couldn't see what had happened, he could tell from the gasp the girl gave off that her friend suddenly didn't look so pretty.

Seifer stepped forward out of the orderly group and stood next to Squall. He punched the boy in the gut and smirked. "I've never seen this kid around…I don't like him…you think we should scar him?" he said, and he did something that had never happened in their group, he pulled out a knife. Riku knew his face was shocked, but he wasn't the only one, the boy in his arm tensed up, Squall looked suddenly pissed off, Edge looked shocked, Vaan looked like he was about to piss his pants, and Fran didn't seem to care. Seifer took a step towards Riku and the hostage and Riku took an involuntary step back forcing the boy to step back with him. This seemed to piss Seifer off. "Stay still fucker, I'm just going to give him a scar like the one's Squall and I have," he said, glaring at Riku, who swallowed, finally the boys heart started to beat faster, but it was probably because Riku's was beating fast now, too.

Squall stepped forward and grabbed Seifer by the collar of his shirt, "What the fucking hell dude!? Do you want to fucking get expelled!?" the man said.

The boys hadn't noticed that within moments Fran, Vaan, Edge, Tidus and the other girl were gone and they were the only ones left in the hall as the principal walked up to them, they could practically see the vein on his bald head as he glared daggers at him. "Get to my office, RIGHT NOW!" he shouted. Riku let go of the brunette, and with one look at Seifer the knife was gone, but Riku saw the lump in his sleeve near his elbow where he knew he had quickly concealed it.

Squall pushed Seifer away from him and glared at the blond, who took off his hat, in a quick movement Riku saw the glint of silver fell into the black hat and Seifer stuffed it in his pocket and the four boys headed down to the office to have their punishments delivered to them. This obviously hadn't gone as they planned, and now that Riku could look at the boy they just beaten, he noticed he had a bloody nose which he held his hand to and he knew that both of the boy's eyes would be black in the morning, but it was his fault for messing with Squall, no matter how far Seifer had pushed it.

The bell rang signifying the end of lunch as the four walked into and sat in the principal's office, the glass windows the lined one wall onto the crowded second floor hallway showed all four of them, and Riku knew what the big news around the school would be within moments.

* * *

**LoL this story is moving really smoothly...I know what's going to happen for the next ten chapters at least...but the fact that I still haven't picked an actually ended is kind of pissing me off...but that's alright, I'll get there sometime. LoL so FINALLY Sora's in the story, don't worry from here on out he's, more a less, a major character, he doesn't become THAT major a character until chapter 7, but that's TOTALLY not the point. LoL Axel's debut is chapter 8, look forward to it XD. Reno's is, 13. XP WOOT!  
-Fire **


	4. Facing 'Them'

The principal had been kind enough to phone all of their parent's himself, and the boys were all forced to listen as he spoke to each of them, giving the same speech to each of the people he talked to. The only way he could have embarrassed them more was if he had put their parents on speaker phone to hear their parents' reactions when they were told: "Hello Ms. or Mr. Insert Last Name Here, I would just like to inform you that your son, Insert Name Here, has one last chance before I have him expelled, because he has chosen to beat up four students today, three of which have been sent off to the hospital." Riku hadn't known that, but now that he thought about it...he and Squall had really beat the crap out of Joshua, and he knew that seeing as Neku had been pinned to the wall by Seifer and he would relentlessly beat the crap out of him. Then the other kid, Beat had been pinned against Edge and Fran, who would never go easy on anyone. Why had they ditched like that though? Riku knew what was going through his, Squall's and Seifer's mind, that they were going to beat on all of them. "And we ask you to come down here, because I find it necessary to discuss the actions that will be taken in their punishment. Thank you." When he had called Squall's parents they had been silent, Seifer's parents you could hear one shriek then they were quiet, with Riku's parents they yelled loud enough to force the principal to hold the receiver a few inches from his ear. It made Riku sigh as Squall and Seifer looked at him, shaking his head, and the other boy looked over at him shocked, he now had a clothe pressed up against his nose but his eyes were already starting to darken.

Lastly the principal called the boy's parents and the four boys listened eagerly. "Hello, is this Sora's mother?" he asked in a kind voice, the same voice he had used much earlier and Riku couldn't help but think the name Sora...sounded sort of familiar. "I'm sorry to say that Sora was on the bad side of a fight today, I haven't gotten the whole story yet, but I assure you that he is fine and has no serious injuries and the boys who beat him are going to be severely punished. But if you wouldn't mind coming down anyway, I think it would be great for you to be there. You can take him home afterwards as well. Thank you. Bye." He hung up and a glare was set on the three boys. "You three will wait until your parents get here then we're each going to have a little talk."

Seifer scoffed, "Are you even allowed calling my parents, I'm nineteen, an adult and I'm no longer bound by my parents," he stated. Riku thought it was a very good point, though Squall hadn't bothered with saying it, maybe Seifer was just trying to avoid a conference with his parents. Riku couldn't blame him. If he were older he would say the exact same thing, hopefully by the time he was Seifer's age he wouldn't be living with his parents but on his own, like Cloud. But the Principal obviously didn't see the sense in it and just shook his head and walked off.

Squall punched Seifer's shoulder, "You fuckin' idiot! If he had fucking seen that you'd brought a knife, we'd all be in shit! Why the hell would you even bring that to school! If Cloud was still here he'd-" he stopped mid sentence, just as Riku started to feel better knowing the sentence would end 'he'd beat the crap out of you for being cowardly and stupid enough to use a weapon.' But he didn't say that and Riku couldn't help but frown as Squall ended up added, "But...Cloud's not here, so you know what, I don't care. Go right ahead and use weapons, the bastard isn't here to try and scare us into place anymore." Riku's mouth almost fell open in shock.

"What the hell are you saying Squall!?" Riku exclaimed, "You and Cloud were best friends! How come you're suddenly turning on him like that?" He stood up, his eyes pleading, he was so confused.

Squall shrugged, Seifer turned to the side but Riku was pretty sure the blond was trying to hide a smirk, how the hell was Seifer affecting Squall so much after years upon years of the two of them being enemies. "It's just...Cloud's gone...we shouldn't stay pinned to the past, it isn't good, we have to learn to move on," Squall explained, his voice sounded upset, as though he didn't want to say what he was saying, as though he was forced into what he was saying, it infuriated Riku to no end. He knew this was Seifer's doing, and now he couldn't stand the man at all.

Riku was about to yell and throw punches at Seifer when someone behind him spoke. "Sora!" Riku twirled on his heel to see a young woman with long brown hair that twirled around her waist run over to her son, "Oh, my god! Are you all right, sweetie?" she said, throwing her arms around his neck and head. The three older boys looked at the display with cocked eyebrows all of them thinking 'what the hell? 'It was probably because none of them had parents that treated them like this.

"I'm fine mom...can you get off...you're making a scene. We're being stared at," Sora said, his voice quiet as he tried to push his mother off of him.

She let go of her son and kneeled down in front of him, "Okay, sweetheart, I'm sorry," she looked around and spotted the other three boys then looked at her son, he nodded and she sighed. She looked back around and glared at the three, for some reason it made Riku turn red and he sat back down in the chair, he would talk to Seifer later.

The lady sat down beside her son and started talking to him in a hushed voice, asking him questions about what happened and it made all three of the older boys suddenly rather uncomfortable. Riku wanted to break the sudden awkward air between the three but had no way of doing that. At least not for a short while when they heard cursing in the air as a familiar senior walked in, his hands jammed into his pockets as he glared at everything and sat down next to Riku. Riku and the two nineteen year old boys stared.

"Edge...what happened to your lip?" Riku asked finally, voicing what the three of them had been wondering because Edge had a large brown bandage over his bottom lip almost stretching down to his chin.

"That bastard, Beat, took out his key and punched me good..." Edge explained in an extremely pissed off tone of voice. The three looked rather shocked. This ninja kid had actually got hit. Edge looked at them and the shocked looks they were giving him and quickly added, "It's all right. I broke his nose for it. Fran got him good too. Those heels she wears are pointy... left a huge gash in his arm and maybe a small puncture in his chest." He said smiling slightly, though he seemed to wince and frowned again. "I should be at the hospital, the damn nurse said I probably need a stitch in my lip but I had to come here first and talk to the Principal and call my parents," he added with a shrug. The other three accepted the answer and all looked down at the floor.

"Edge?" Riku starts, getting the green eyed man's attention before asking, "What do you honestly think of Cloud?" Riku felt Squall tense on his other side and saw Seifer turn to look at the wall in his peripheral vision and Edge just looked confused by the question as though the answer was obvious.

Edge opened his mouth to answer when someone new stormed in. They all looked up at the lady who had walked in and was now standing in front of the four boys, Riku in particular. Riku flinched and looked up slowly. Squall, Seifer and Edge were all staring at him. The lady was wearing all black and her long black hair was tied up in a bun, the grey in her hair was getting more and more obvious by the day. Her aqua eyes looked infuriated as though she was on the brink, about to explode, and Riku didn't doubt she would. Following in behind her was a man with thin black hair and a bit of a belly. He two looked furious as he stared daggers at Riku from where he stood in the door way.

"What the fucking hell did you do!?" the lady shrieked, obviously not caring that she was in a public place like she was and that she had the attention of everyone in the room. Riku looked around he could feel how tense Edge and Squall were. She had snapped at Riku before in front of both of them. Seifer's eyebrows were furrowed under his messy dirty blond bangs and at a glance over at Sora he looked confused and shocked while his mother took a hold of his hand and moved closer to her son, her eyes full of pity...and to Riku...that was what hurt the most. "Riku! Answer me!" she stated loudly.

"I beat up some kid..." Riku said, his voice was quiet and vulnerable, so uncharacteristic of the silver haired boy.

His mother glared at him more and his father almost growled as he shifted his weight where he stood in the doorway. Riku noticed that Sora had looked at him mom with a confused look and she had shushed him. "Of course you fucking did! And where the hell did you go last night? Whose clothes are you wearing!" his mother yelled. It was times like this he wished the principal were right here.

"Cloud's," he said in a sigh as it answered both questions.

His mother frowned as she looked over her shoulder at her husband, who shook his head. "As always, it leads back to that bastard," the man said.

"I thought he was gone. I thought we were finally rid of that fucking bastard," his mother said with hateful scorn in her words. It made Riku flinch, but finally the Principal came back out of his office and motioned for Riku and his parents to come into the office. The two adults walked quickly in and Riku stood up slowly. He went to exchange glances with his three 'friends' but they all looked at the floor. He turned and looked at Sora and his mother Sora was staring at his thumbs in his lap, but his mother was looking at Riku, her eyes looked hurt and he could feel her pity for him. He wanted to look tough right now, but that was impossible. He sensed a world of understanding from the young mother there was just something about her...but he couldn't say anything. Her eyes were soft as she seemed to mouth 'I know how you feel, sweetie.' It made Riku sigh but also made him feel a little better as he cracked a small forced smile at her and she smiled back at him as he walked into the office where his parents and the Principal had disappeared. There was something so friendly and familiar about her, but he had never met her before in his life.

He sat down in a chair beside his parents when he stepped into the room and his parents shot daggers at him. Right as he sat down though the principal started to talk, not giving them enough time to say anything to him. "So, Riku...would you mind telling us exactly what happened?" the principal asked, and Riku was shocked as his parents' stayed silent and actually let him speak.

"I won't lie; the guys and I beat up Joshua, Neku and Daisukenojo. They were spreading rumours and dissing us...it's just how we deal with things, and that's how it's been since I got to this school, we scare others into respecting us," he said, shrugging and not making eye contact with anyone.

"I never said anything about your group of friends before, Riku, but I'm fed up with the way you're acting! You've been like this ever since you were in grade six! And it's only gotten worse! And I know whose fucking fault it is! It's that little brat, Cloud Strife! I didn't like him! I didn't like his parents! He was a bad kid! I should have NEVER let you hang around him! EVER!" his mother shrieked at him, and Riku couldn't help but flinch back and wonder how thin the walls here were and how much the others could hear of his mothers little speech.

The principal looked at the lady, then back at Riku. "I've never met this 'Cloud', but I have heard a lot about him. Can you tell me a bit more about your relationship with him and what kind of person he is?" the Principal asked the sophomore.

Riku was about to say something when his mother decided to answer instead. "Cloud is a terrible little brat-" then she was interrupted by the principal, who held up his hand to silence her. Riku was shocked that she did.

"I asked Riku." He stated sharply, enough to make Riku's mother take a sharp breath and sit back in his chair in a huff and the principal moved his gaze yet again to Riku, his eyes had softened as he awaited an answer. "Well then?" he asked, his voice suddenly gentle. Riku could practically see a puzzle being put together in the back of this mans eyes, and it pissed the silver haired man off to no end...and Riku was tempted to fuck with his brain and see what sort of shit he could pull...and if his parent's hadn't been here he would've, but, alas, they were here so he would only say what needed to be said and not make up a thing.

"Well, Cloud is just a childhood friend. Sure he taught me a lot of stuff most people would consider 'bad.' He's not that bad a person, we were young, hell, if you knew how to swear and weren't afraid to, or knew about sex, you were suddenly godly," he said, suppressing a chuckle, though the principal smirked at the comment, his parents frowned and glared at him, "Well, Cloud graduated last year and lives on his own...I don't think there's anything else to say about Cloud... Oh. He was the leader of our group last year," he finished.

"So who is the leader of your 'group' now?" Riku could tell he was trying not to say gang, just as Riku had been. "Is it Squall or Seifer?" Riku was a little shocked...for two reasons. One, he had almost gotten it. Two, he had immediately chosen the two oldest members of the group as though the others were too young, and that in particular made Riku want to say Edge...but he didn't.

"Seifer..." he lied. He was hoping with this answer, Squall wouldn't get in as much trouble. "Seifer is in charge of everything we do," he stated, nodding. Squall better thank him later.

The principal nodded, but his parents seemed to not believe him, but they didn't say anything. They didn't know anything. They had no right to say anything right now, and Riku was glad that they actually seemed to notice that fact at this point in time. "Thank you, Riku. And you know even though you aren't one hundred percent to blame for this, I can't just let you off the hook."

"Yes, sir, I understand that," Riku responded.

"You're very lucky I don't suspend you, or expel you for this, you did put three boys in the hospital, but I'm only giving you ten detentions. That's two weeks," the principal said. Riku almost sighed. He knew his punishment could have been --no-- should have been worse then that. He wondered if it was pity or if this guy was just stupid...he would have to find out later. He would have to find out how much trouble Edge, Squall and Seifer got in.

"Thank you, sir." Riku nodded to the elder.

"You can go. Tell Edge to come in here next...he should go see a doctor too, so I should get his over with before I get in trouble," he said almost laughing. Riku's parents got up; his mother grabbed his arm and dragged him out of the room with her. Outside the office back where everyone still was, she let go of him. Everyone else's parents were there by now, and they all looked rather pissed off, except for Edge's and Sora's moms. Edge's mom had taken off the bandage from his lip and was examining the wound with a frown, looking sad for her son.

Riku took a step towards Edge, away from his parents, but his mother grabbed his arm and pulled him back. "We're going." She stated sharply.

"The principal told me to-" Riku started.

"I don't care, we're going," she said again, yanking on his arm.

He yanked back and looked at her with furrowed brows. "Mom, it's still school. I should get back to class," he stated. "You can't just take me out of class like that."

"I can and I will."

"Listen to your mother, Riku," his father added. They were by the door and the only eyes really on them were Sora's and his mother's.

"No. I'm telling Edge to go in, then going to class. I'm sixteen! You can't tell me what to do anymore. I'm supposed to be able to do whatever I want now," he retorted, not able to keep the anger out of his voice. His mother was shaking in rage and her grip had tightened before she let go of his arm.

"How dare you..." she started, her voice quiet. He expected her to just leave, that that would be it, but then there was a sudden stinging pain on his cheek as his hand jerked to the side as his mother's palm connected with his cheek. "You little brat! Don't you dare talk back to me! It's all that damn Strife's fault! ALL HIS DAMN FAULT!" she shrieked before taking off out of the room and down the hall. Leaving Riku there, his face stinging, his mouth open in shock. His ego completely destroyed and all eyes on him.

"And you better come home after school young man; we still have more to say to you," his father finished before he left after his wife.

Riku finally built up the courage to look around; everyone had almost identical looks of shock on their faces. Seifer and Squall looked at one another and frowned. Edge sighed and shook his head. All their parents looked shocked and he could see the pity written on their faces as the looked at him. He looked Sora and his mom. Sora looked at him with mild pity. Sora's mom still looked at him with some understanding, but her eyes were shiny as though she was about to cry and her bottom lip quivered slightly, but she quickly covered it with her hand and wrapped her other arm around her son and pulled him close to her. Overall, Riku was completely embarrassed and he flushed red as he tore out of the room, completely ignoring the fact that he was supposed to tell Edge to go see the principal now.

He went and hid in the bathroom for a while until the bell rang for last period to start. He was confused and he had a red mark on his face, he moved his hair to cover it for the most part before he headed down to his math class. The class wasn't something he could possibly pay attention to. The teacher went on and on about lines and perpendicular bisectors and slope and distance and other shit that Riku should've been paying attention to, but didn't. Tidus, who was also in this class, had brought his bag for him. Riku had thanked him for that, but that was the only thing he said all period. He was not looking forward to having to go home after school. He was not looking forward to seeing Squall, Edge or Seifer after what they had seen, all this stuff was inevitably going to happen, but he wished he could at least stall it...and finally the final bell of the day rang and he picked up Cloud's bag, slinging it over his shoulder and started his walk home. He had decided that the day after he would go and return Cloud's stuff, and he kept thinking about that, not wanting to even think about the meeting with his parents he was bound to have later that night.

He closed the door loudly behind him as he walked into the little house. The hallway that led to the living room was a very dirty looking white and it was a rather depressing looking place. His parents hadn't done anything to try and clean it ever, and Riku swore most of the time that he could see where he and Cloud had written a bunch of curse words on the walls in crayon, seven years ago. He sighed. His parents who had stopped talking to each other when the door closed had started talking again. Riku could picture them; sitting in front of the TV on the old couch in the living room, probably discussing Riku's punishment, but Riku couldn't make out any words. It was just a loud murmur from where he was as he kicked off his shoes and ran quickly up the stairs to his left and into his room.

He closed his bedroom door and sprawled himself out on his bed with a sigh. Everything was familiar again, and it wasn't actually a good thing. He picked up the case of CDs he had on the floor beside his bed and flipped through them, he picked a mixed CD Edge had given him a couple years ago after his collection of music had been deemed: 'unsuitable for a teenage boy.' And Riku could admit he had grown fond of the artists Edge had put on here, even if it was pretty much just loud guitar and drum solos, everyone who listened to this groups paid no attention to the lyrics, which Riku had found interesting and actually meaningful. So overall if he got past the blasting instruments and concentrated on the lyrics, they were very decent songs.

He didn't know how long he had been lying there, but suddenly it was darker outside as he could tell from the minimal light leaking in through the blinds of the large window beside his bed. "Riku! Downstairs, now! Dinner!" his mother yelled up the stairs. Riku sighed, he thought he would get lucky enough to escape without having to go near his parents, but of course he wouldn't be so lucky as to have that happen, especially not with the nice conversation they had had with the Principal earlier.

He pushed himself off his bed and trudged down the stairs as slowly as he could possibly manage, really not looking forward to anything that could possibly be said or done when he got downstairs. But he did eventually step on the ground level and made his way down the hall and to the kitchen to the little table in the corner just big enough for the three of them, food was put out, but Riku paid no attention to it as he sat down as far away from his parents as he possibly could, which unfortunately, wasn't very far at all. He started to eat what had been put n front of him and didn't speak or look up, and after ten minutes his parents' hadn't said anything and he thought he was off the hook, he was already half finished his dinner.

"Riku, what in the fucking world has gotten into you?" his mother began, and Riku could not suppress his sigh as her voice gradually started to get louder, though she didn't look at him but continued to look down at her own plate. "I knew your friends are bad. I've never said anything about them before, but this is enough. Four kids! YOU SENT THREE TO THE HOSPITAL!" She finally turned to look at him and he shrunk back in his seat and didn't take his eyes off the prongs of his fork. "AND YOU SPENT THE NIGHT AT CLOUD'S!" her voice sounded like it was being far to strained as she said Cloud's name. "I THOUGHT HE WAS GONE! HE'S A BAD, FUCKING KID AND HE ALWAYS HAS BEEN! DID HE TELL YOU TO BEAT UP THOSE KIDS TODAY? IS IT ALL HIS FAULT AGAIN? " she shrieked, she was practically shaking in rage.

"I was only over at Cloud's because you guys forced me out of the house and he was coming home from work and found me. At least he actually cares about me," Riku muttered, just loud enough or his parents to hear him. "And no, he did not tell me to do anything. It was something my group decided together, they were dissing us, we had to do something, it's just the way we are."

His mother glared at him intensely. "We've given you a home for sixteen years, Riku! Don't you DARE say we don't care about you!" she demanded fiercely. "And who EVER said that beating up a kid was the right thing to do, EVER! Your friends don't know anything! They're all just as bad as Strife! The only half decent kid you ever hung around was that Reks boy," she exclaimed. It was true. She had always been fond of Reks, and Riku was sure she would like Vaan when she met him too. She loved Reks more then she loved Riku. It was pathetic.

"Well Reks is a pussy..." Riku said in a very quiet whisper to himself then the room went quiet for a while. Riku had given up on his food, he wasn't hungry.

"I don't want you to ever talk to Cloud Strife again," his mother stated bluntly. Riku looked up at her with a shocked face and he saw his father nod in agreement. He didn't know what to say or do about that statement. So instead of logically thinking things out he stood up, slamming his hands on the table top before shooting daggers a his parents and storming out of the room, up the stairs and into his room, where he slammed the door and turned his music on as loud as it would go and decided that tomorrow after school he would go see Cloud.

* * *

**Woot, another chapter up. this story is really coming along great. I do love the fact that this is a RikuSora story but there is NO RikuSora until chapter 16, but then it gets a bit more prominent. ya I have 18 chapters plotted out and I'm currently writing the eighth chapter LoL please review I'd love to know what you guys all think about this ****story ^_^  
-Fire**


	5. Lightbulb in his Head

That morning Riku had woken to his alarm going off as he usually did. He glared at the alarm clock which read: 7:00AM and forced himself out of bed. He had fallen asleep in Cloud's clothes and he frowned. He didn't want to return them to him dirty…but it looked like he had no choice. He sighed as he pulled off what he was wearing and changed into something new: a pair of faded black jeans, a dark blue t-shirt with a rather high collar, and a grey hoodie over that which he left undone. He looked down at himself before shoving Cloud's clothes into the bag he had borrowed. Then he walked out of his room and over to the empty bathroom. His parents were already gone for work which was always something he was happy with in the morning and it let him have at least a little bit of silence in the day. He worked with his hair until it fell to his liking and then brushed his teeth before he walked back to his room and picked up the two bag: his and Cloud's. He slung them over his shoulders and walked downstairs. He decided he wasn't going to bother with food, he still wasn't very hungry. So instead he went and sat himself in front of the TV and sat there channel surfing for half an hour, never able to find something good on, but soon enough it was time for him to leave. He pulled on a jacket and managed to stuff Cloud's bag in his bag before he headed out, looking like a fool with an extremely bloated back pack.

His walks to school always felt so much longer in the cold, the wind swept his hair in every direction and pelted his legs, and about three quarters of the way through he always felt a stinging pain his legs, and his nose felt weird with half frozen mucus hitting the inside of his nose every time he breathed. He sighed in relief when he walked into the heated school. He did that a lot. It was just such an amazing difference from the freezing outside world of snow and blistering winds. He looked at the digital clock, its red numbers glowing in the rather dim hallway. He hated being early, but the cold made him move faster, it was only 8:05; class didn't start for fifteen minutes. He ran a hand through his hair until it fell back where it had been when he had left his house about half an hour ago.

He walked down the hall, unzipping the jacket he had put on and pulling it off. He stopped about half way down the hall and turned to his locker he looked at the little black lock that had given him so much trouble in the past. He glared at it before he tried opening it: spin it to the right twice, then to the right to 5, then to the left all the way around then to 10 then to the right to 20. It was the easiest combination in the world yet the lock gave him so much trouble. He yanked on it. No luck. It didn't move. He tried the exact same thing again, staring intently at the numbers as he went to each, after three tries he still had no luck and had resorted to smacking his head on the cool metal of the locker door. Someone chuckled behind him and he went to glare over his shoulder when some one hip checked him to the side and stood in front of his locker and sighed as he took in Edge's familiar figure. He opened it within thirty seconds and on his first try. He took the lock off and spun it around on his index finger before flinging it in the air and catching it. "You still letting this thing give you trouble?" the man with silvery spikes of hair inquired.

Riku opened the locker and hung his jacket up in it. He took his back pack off his back and opened it, taking Cloud's bag out of it and putting it down on the floor of the locker. He sighed and took the lock from Edge, locking the damn locker again. He spun and looked at Edge he smirked as he looked him over, he looked normal but today he had a large bandage on his bottom lip stretching down to his chin. "So, did you have to get any stitches?" he asked in a very mocking tone.

"Yeah," Edge said with a sigh, "But just one, but dude! He pulled out a key!"

"I thought you were some kind of ninja, Edge," Riku said in a very ashamed voice, and it seemed to annoy Edge.

"Yo! One little punch shouldn't mean anything! I though Fran had him down, I was teasing him then he punched me!" Edge tried to explain. It made Riku laugh as the aqua eyed boy started to walk down the hall towards the cafeteria where he was sure everyone would be. Edge followed him closely though he had gone quiet and walked with his hands in his pockets and his head tilted to the ground.

Squall, Seifer, Fran and Tidus were already at the table Fran leaning against the vending machine as per usual. Riku and Edge went and joined them sitting next to Squall.

"How many detentions did you guys get?" Riku asked, curious.

"Ten." Seifer, Squall and Edge all said in unison.

"And let me guess. You two," Squall started looking at Fran and Tidus, "Didn't get in trouble at all." It was a statement, not a question.

Tidus scratched the back of his head and laughed in a very guilty manner, "No not really, I wasn't caught, you guys won't tell on me, right?" The comment made the veteran members sigh.

Fran looked at Squall. "They think I'm the innocent foreign girl," she said in her thick accent, "I haven't gotten in trouble once, even though I've been caught a plenty," she finished. Riku did remember one day when she got in a fight with this huge guy and had gotten caught in the fight and he was the one that had gotten in trouble, while Fran got off without even a warning.

Everyone went back to idle chit chat again after that and Riku started looking around the caf when his eyes fell on someone familiar. It was that Sora kid from yesterday, he had two black eyes just like Riku thought he would, but that didn't stop him from being as exuberant and care free as usual, it would seem. But it was still bugging Riku, the fact that his face looked familiar and even his name had been familiar but he still couldn't place it. He stood up; he was going to go talk to him. Everyone at his table suddenly had their eyes on him all wondering what he was doing, when the bell rang and they all seemed to understand and think he was just getting up to head to class, and Riku sighed as he slung his bag over his shoulder and was whisked into the sudden crowd of people milling through the hallways. Riku sighed even louder. He could wait until lunch. He'd ask Selphie.

The next two periods couldn't have gone by slower then they did, everyone was writing short stories in English. Riku had finished the entire thing two days ago, so he had to sit at his desk and reread what he had written for the hundredth time. It was as though the teacher thought it would be crap since he seemingly 'rushed through it.' They had been told to do a Halloween themed story so he let his parents play the role of the two killer zombies and he and Cloud killed them. But really the plot wasn't as simple as that. There were twists here and there with the zombies holding their lovers hostage and threatening to rip off the girls' heads if they got any closer, and in the end Riku almost broke and couldn't do it, but Cloud managed to get him to understand 'something' that made him pick up his sword and cut the zombie woman's head off. Of course he hadn't used any name the teacher would've known but he knew, and if Cloud read it, he would know too. But that was basically how the period went. Second he had Careers class, it was pointless to Riku, he didn't care about any of the stuff the teacher was talking about and that often caused him to lip off which got him in shit, not that he cared, it was just careers class, he could be failing the class and only care a little. So instead of working, he worked on a drawing, glad he sat near the back. He was also glad that he was good enough of an artist that anyone looking over his shoulder wouldn't understand what he was putting down on the page. But soon enough the bell to signal lunch rang and Riku was the first one out the door.

In the cafeteria he ignored his table, which was something he rarely if ever did. He glanced at the people at his table, then looked around. His eyes landed on Rinoa as she walked towards Selphie who was sitting with Sora already. Riku, for now, avoided looking at Sora. He was relieved when Rinoa pulled Selphie away from them and the two girls walked down the hall. Riku followed. They stopped beside a set of lockers and started talking really quickly. Riku sighed, this was one of the last things in the world he would ever do, it probably would've been easier to just get Edge to get all the information he needed. It was too late now though because the girls had already noticed him walking towards them and they had started talking to one another even faster.

"Hello," Riku said in a bored sounding voice that was very common for him. The two girls looked about to piss themselves of pure happiness.

"Hi, Riku," they both said at the same time, sounding like they could barely contain their wild raging hormones.

"I was wondering if you could tell me who those new freshmen are?" he asked. He wanted to bite his tongue and take it back once he said it because of the looks of shock the two girls gave him, as though they couldn't believe he didn't remember them. Had he met them before?

"How could you not remember them, Riku?" Rinoa asked.

"Yeah, you're the reason they moved back in grade four," Selphie added, and things started to connect in Riku's head.

"Sora and Kairi. Don't tell me you don't remember what you did to them?" Rinoa asked.

Riku shook his head as the whole story from his fifth grade year came back to him. He had been eleven and stupid, but they had been stupider, questioning Cloud's existence, they had asked for what they got. That was the day Riku's parents' had really started to hate him, because he put two kids in the hospital by himself. Those two kids had been Sora and Kairi. So was it just irony that Sora had been the one he had beaten up yesterday as well? "No, never mind. I remember now. That's just something I try not to remember. Thanks a lot for the help." He said with a sigh turning on his heel, he was about to go and sit down with his friends…but decided against it, instead he walked around the second floor of the school for the rest of the lunch period just thinking, and by the end he had ended up in the library, sitting by a window, with his forehead pressed against the cool glass. It was soothing to his head which was working over time right now. He knew his friends would get a laugh over this when he decided to tell them, but for some reason it was gnawing at the back of his mind. When the bell rang to say that lunch was over and the lights in the library went off Riku forced himself to his feet and pushed the remaining thoughts to the back of his mind, and replaced them with what he was going to do after school, he was headed to Cloud's house right after detention. Hopefully the blond wouldn't think he was being an annoyance.

In art class he worked silently on the piece he was making, and he tried his hardest to concentrate solely on his work. This was his favourite class and it calmed him and by the end of class, after the teacher held up his work to show the class a 'excellent example' he wasn't thinking about grade five and Sora at all. His art teacher was the only teacher of his who liked him. She was ecstatic to have such a 'prodigy' in her class. He really wasn't that good, but no one in his class knew what they were doing at all so of course based on comparison he looked as though he could be the next big thing in the art world, and something to do with art was definitely something he would look forward to as a career in the future, but it was still to early to think about that. He let out a short sigh as the bell rang and he headed off to his last class of the day, Math.

He didn't particularly like math. It was too easy and everyone else in his class were too stupid, constantly having to ask the teacher to redo something he had written on the board, it was pathetic. Luckily though the teacher's lessons were long and were able to distract Riku enough, along with Tidus' constant talking, to get through to the end of class again without a single thought of Sora. Though he knew that during detention Edge, at least, would force him to say where he was during lunch, and he couldn't lie to Edge. That was something no one could do, except Zack…but Zack had been a completely different story. When the bell rang Riku took his sweet time throwing everything into his bag before walking slowly down the halls to he detention room, which had a small metal plaque with 'DETENTION' etched into it. He sighed as he opened the door and walked into the classroom.

Mr. Highwind was sitting at his desk reading a magazine; he had a toothpick in his mouth to replace a cigarette and everyone knew he didn't want to be here as much as the students. Riku took a seat in the middle of the classroom. There were a group of slutty looking girls who would look over at him then at one another then giggle. He just glared at them, it didn't help, the girls were probably too high to know anything was going on around them. And speaking of high, at the back of the classroom there was a group of guys who all had hair long enough to cover their eyes and they sat there…like zombies, every once and a while saying something that sounded something the undead would call to one another. Riku shook his head and finally Edge walked in and sat beside him. The ninja kid looked at Mr. Highwind and said, "Hey Mr. H, if you wanna go out and have a smoke we won't do anything." Mr. Highwind just glared at Edge, though looked like he was thinking about saying yes.

"Are all ya brats here yet?" he asked in his southern accent. Edge and Riku looked around just as the door opened and Squall and Seifer walked in looking rather gloomy.

"Now everyone is," Edge said happily, smiling at Mr. Highwind. Squall and Seifer took their seats, Squall in front of Riku and Seifer beside Squall, in front of Edge.

The blond teacher sighed and scratched the back of his head, moving the toothpick around in his mouth. "Fine," he said bluntly, "I'm gunna go have a smoke. Don'tcha dare move," he said, taking a box of smokes out of the pocket of his navy blue jacket as he pulled it on. He glared at everyone before walking out of the room and closing the door. The rooms immediately erupted into a fast paced conversation from a few wanna-be gang members in the back and the preps in the front corner. Edge, Squall and Seifer looked at Riku in the same instant, it was sort of unnerving, but he had been expecting it. So he told them all about what had happened all those years ago with Sora, he was right. The three all shared a good laugh about it, and Riku joined the laughter just so it didn't look like he was slightly worried about it.

They all broke into conversation and Riku decided to finish him homework like a good student until Mr. Highwind came back an hour later and told them to get the hell out so he could go home, they all listened and were out the door in a flash.

Riku went down to his locker and managed to open it on the second try this time. He shoved Cloud's stuff back into is bag and pulled on his jacket before heading out of the school and towards Cloud's house.

* * *

**Off to Cloud's house, it would seem LoL something good HAS to happen now,right? Well...maybe,you'll have to wait and see. Anyway, I'm working on chapter 9 now, I have 28 Chapters planned out altogether . so look forward to a nice long story.  
-Fire **


	6. Walking In

Riku couldn't help but be glad it was a short walk to Cloud's apartment building from the school because it was a blizzard outside, it was mid November now and Riku couldn't remember the last time it had snowed like this. He was glad, as well, that he had chosen to wear a hoodie that day, because his hair would be caked in ice and his ears would have turned purple in the wind and snow. But ten minutes after he started his walk from the front doors of the school he was walking into the lobby of the apartment building. He took off his hood and looked around, there was no one at the counter where the managers he had seen before normally were, so he took this opportune moment to dash to the elevator and call it down by repeatedly hitting the up arrow button and as the doors open, he walked inside. He was about to hit the button to close the door when an older women stepped in too. He looked at her for a moment then hit the close the door button and the number fifteen. The women whom he assumed was in her forties smiled at him then hit the number sixteen. "I've never seen you around before," the lady said with such a kind, warming smile it made the ice on Riku's eyelashes melt away.

"Yeah, I don't live here; I'm just visiting a friend," he said with a forced smile. The lady nodded at the statement then fell silent and Riku thought that was the end of the conversation and he had started counting the dinging sound as they passed each floor. The tenth ding rang when the lady started to talk to him again.

"Are you visiting the new girl…Kairi, I think her name was?" she asked. Riku stopped breathing for a moment and his eyes opened wider for a fraction of a second, he had no idea she lived in this building too. Did Sora also live here? They seemed to go everywhere together.

"Uh, no. I'm not really friends with her…" Riku said, hoping that would get off that subject. Of course it didn't.

"Oh, you go to the same school as her? What grade are you in?"

"Yeah, I go to the same school as her, I'm in grade ten, a year older then her."

"Oh, well of course you don't want to be seen hanging around freshmen, that makes sense," the lady said with a laugh, she still had that same smile on her face and it was driving Riku mad. The thirteenth ding sounded.

"Yeah, that wouldn't be great for my rep."

"I understand, I was the exact same at your age," she said with a nod. Riku almost laughed, yeah, right.

The fifteenth ding and the doors swung open. "Well I'm getting off," he said, taking a step out of the elevator.

"Okay. OH! I didn't catch your name. I'm Grace."

"Uh, I'm Riku."

"It was nice to meet you. Have fun with your friend."

"Thanks, it was nice to meet you, too," he said quietly as the doors closed. As they did, he sighed heavily and pinched the bridge of his nose before he started down the hall to Cloud's apartment. When he approached the door he took a breath, hoping he was interrupting his friend. He rapped on the door three times and waited for Cloud to answer.

He stood in the hall with no answer for at least three minutes and he was wondering whether or not he should leave, but he had heard noises inside, so he stayed. Moments later the door opened slightly, then a little more and Riku saw Cloud standing there without a shirt on, his hair a mess, his face slightly red, and his chest rising and falling rather quickly. "Are you all right, Cloud?" Riku asked with a cocked eyebrow and a slightly crackly voice.

"Uh…" Cloud was just about to say something when there were more footsteps from inside and a dirty blond with a mullet and a messy Mohawk came up and wrapped his arms around Cloud's neck. He was half nude as well.

"Are you all right, Cloud?" the dirty blond slurred seductively, completely disregarding the platinum haired boy at the door. But it didn't take long for Riku to add to plus two and started to back up, a weird deep squeaky sound escaping his throat and Riku went to dash down the hall when there was suddenly a hand around his forearm. Riku looked at Cloud who had grabbed his arm, but Cloud was looking at the other man, with a fierce glaze in his blue eyes.

"Get out, Demyx," Cloud stated bluntly. Demyx looked taken aback. He took a step away from cloud before huffing and walking off into the bedroom. He came back a few minutes later with his clothes on and pushed Cloud aside and walked quickly from the apartment, Riku wanted to follow him and flee from the awkward conversation that was bound to come up after this. But Cloud was a bit too strong and Riku was pulled into the house. Cloud closed the door as he pulled Riku in and Riku took off his shoes putting them on the ground next to Cloud's. The blond pointed at the couch. "Sit," he commanded as though speaking to a dog, on a usual basis Riku would've said no, but this time he did what he was told and sat down as Cloud went off to his bedroom. Cloud came back a couple minutes later with a shirt on and his hair not as messy as it had been and he sat down beside Riku. "So why'd you come over?" Cloud asked ignoring the fact that the platinum had come at a terrible time.

"Uh…I wanted to return the stuff you lent me yesterday, and get the clothes I had left here," Riku stated in a rather monotonous voice, still slightly shocked at what he had walked in. He unzipped his bag and pulled Cloud's stuff out and set it down on the table in front of him then pulled off his jacket and shoved that into his bag.

"Okay, fair enough…you didn't really pick the best time though…" Cloud said, scratching the back of his head with a sigh. "But don't worry…we didn't so anything."

"I don't care, Cloud…I know it's just what you do…" Riku said with a sigh, no matter how much he hated what Cloud did, he didn't ever say anything negative about it. It might change how Cloud felt about him, and that was the last thing he ever wanted to change.

"All right, I'm glad you're so understanding, even though you're still a little kid," Cloud said, leaning back on the couch and sighing.

"I'm not a little kid," Riku stated, sounding like he really was just a little kid because of the whiny voice that happened to break through and be heard. But it made Cloud laugh so Riku smiled meekly.

"Yeah? I bet you'd still giggle if I told you what that bastard Demyx was planning to do with me," Cloud said throwing one arm around Riku's shoulders and pulling him closer with a laugh, it really was amazing the difference between when Cloud is home alone or with Riku, and when he is out in public with his friends. Cloud seemed so much more…carefree now, although his words made Riku slightly uncomfortable. Maybe Riku would still laugh…if it were anyone other then Cloud and it was a girl and a guy, but not when it was two guys, never if it was two guys…no matter how much Riku didn't want to say he it, he found homosexuality weird and kinda gross. He knew Cloud was bisexual though so he had learned to live with it.

"Hey, Cloud?" Riku started, not continuing until he had Cloud's attention, glad the older man had let him drop the subject, "You heard about how I beat up those kids when I was in grade five, right?"

"Yeah, you were so proud of it back then. Hell, I was pretty proud of you too. I hadn't done anything like that when I had been your age.," Cloud said with a smile and, as it always did, Cloud's praise made Riku feel better then he just had and helped him get his mind off what he had just walked in on.

"Yeah…Their name's were Sora and Kairi and they moved after that," Riku went on, Cloud nodded and Riku continued, "They recently moved back, in fact Kairi lives in your building."

"Really?" Cloud said in slight disbelief, "I didn't know that, of course the people here don't like me and I never get filled in on anything so, okay. And what about the other kid?" Cloud asked.

"I don't know where he lives but yesterday we beat him up again. All of us, and Seifer pulled out a knife and almost cut him. Squall and I already beat him for that though," Riku explained.

Cloud frowned and shook his head. "Bringing a knife to school and using it…that's cowardly. They shouldn't be using weapons." He said in a serious tone. It made Riku remember what Squall had been about to say…and how he had stopped and instead said they should forget about Cloud. Riku wouldn't tell Cloud that, he couldn't tell Cloud that Squall's being so influenced by Seifer, especially since Riku didn't know the reason why.

"Yeah, that's what Squall and I said," Riku said, scratching the back of his head. Cloud nodded.

"Okay. So you beat this kid up a second time. Did he do anything about it?"

"No…he seemed to completely accept it when we beat him up. But then the principal came and everyone bailed except Squall, Seifer and I." Riku said with a sigh.

"Edge bailed?" Cloud asked, completely shocked. Riku shook his head.

"No…he didn't bail because he had wanted to, but one of the guys we had been beating before took out a key and got him good." Riku said.

"Wow…Edge getting hit…" Cloud said with a laugh, "That's almost as shocking as him bailing. Is he all right?"

"Yeah…the guy just cut his lip a little, he had to get a stitch but he'll be fine," Riku answered. It seemed to just amuse Cloud who burst out laughing, looking at Cloud who seemed to be so happy sometimes, it really made Riku think and try to remember the last time he had been happy enough to beam so happily and laugh like that. He couldn't remember…he knew it had to be a long time ago, before he knew any better. He was tempted to let out a sigh but didn't, but he knew he looked slightly awkward at the moment and he was glad as Cloud started talking again.

"So why'd you beat up Sora this time?" he asked, a smile still on his seemingly perfect face.

"Well…we were beating up a few frosh for making shit up about us and he decided to come and tell us we didn't have the right to do that. So we beat him up," Riku said with a shrug, his lips twitching upward at one corner, but his eyes were still slightly gloomy although they were covered by his long bangs.

"Makes sense, I would've done the same thing," Cloud said nodding. The blond stood up and Riku looked up at him, "You want something to drink? I feel like having chocolate…want me to make hot chocolate?" Cloud asked.

Riku nodded, "Yeah, sure, that sounds good."

"All right," Cloud walked off into the kitchen and Riku heard the clanking of metal on metal, the tap running and Cloud getting everything out. Then he came back out and sat down beside Riku again, hitting the button on the remote on the table turn on the TV and he lazily started channel surfing. "So…anything interesting other then violent crap going on in your life?" Cloud asked looking to the side at Riku through a piece of spiked blond hair that fell beside his eye.

Riku shrugged. "Nothing really…" and it was the truth, other then the shit he got into at school his life was incredibly boring.

"Really? You don't have a job or an online life or a girlfriend?" Cloud asked turning to actually look at Riku. He actually looked shocked and that was probably the weirdest part, why would it be weird for the unsociable Riku to not do anything with his life.

"Nope, none of that. Especially the last one…you're the one that told me a girl only gets with a popular kid for popularity and sex, especially if the popular kid has a tough rep and a not half bad appearance," Riku said looking at Cloud with a frown.

"Good point," Cloud said with a laugh. "You've got a pretty boring life then, don't you?" Cloud asked though Riku could sense his kidding tone.

"I guess you could say that…to some extent," Riku said, scratching the back of his head the smallest smirking forming on his lips. The two were then silent for a while as they watching TV for a while neither of them said or did anything until they heard the loud sharp whistle of the boiling water in the kitchen and Cloud hopped to his feet and rushed into the kitchen. He came back a couple minutes later with identical dark green mugs with spoons in them and steam rising from the tops. He put them both down on the table in front of them. Riku picked his up, it was extremely warm and he blew on the top before taking a sip. It was boiling hot but it tasted good and felt really nice going down his throat. He let out a sigh. "It's good," he stated, and Cloud smiled at him before doing the same with his own drink. The blond pulled his legs up onto the couch beside him and watched TV with a smile on his face and Riku couldn't help but wonder how someone in Cloud's profession could always seem so lax and happy when they were practically bought to do stuff with or to other people. It was something Riku would never get and honestly didn't want to get, Cloud had his reasons (though Riku wasn't sure of what they were) and he wasn't going to start questioning his reasoning.

Riku hadn't been paying attention to the clock as he sat on Cloud's couch and they watch some stupid comedy show with lame quips here and there but he decided to glance at the clock when he was about done with his hot chocolate and frowned when he saw it read 6:30. He looked at Cloud. "I'm going to have to go soon, or I'm going to get in a lot of shit," he said with a sigh. Cloud looked at him for a while before nodding.

"All right. I understand. Let me go get you your stuff," Cloud said putting his mug back down on the table and got up stretching a he did so before walking of in the direction of his bedroom. Riku finished off his drink while the blond was gone and set the mug down on the table as Cloud came back into the room with Riku's shirt and pants all folded up and nice looking. Riku smiled, for the most part, genuinely, as Cloud handed him the clothes and he opened his bag and put them in and pulled out his jacket.

"Thanks Cloud," Riku said rather happily.

"No problem. You can stop by here anytime, all right?"

"Yeah, all right. Sounds great," Riku said, standing up and putting his arms into the sleeves of his jacket. And zipping it up to his neck, he walked over to the door and pulled on and laced up his shoes. While Cloud walked over and opened up the door for him.

"Oh wait!" Cloud exclaimed sharply, making Riku look up at him quickly. Cloud whisked off to the kitchen one last time and came back with a slip of paper. "You don't have my number, you can call me the next time you feel like coming over. Just so you don't, y'know, interrupt something next time." Riku almost shuddered but what Cloud said made sense so he took the piece of paper Cloud handed to him, looked it over once before folding it and putting it into his back pocket.

"I'll see you around, bye, Cloud," Riku said walking out of the apartment.

"Yeah, see 'ya, Riku," Cloud said happily waiting a short while before closing the door as Riku got to the elevator and hit the down arrow button, wishing he didn't have to leave, wishing he didn't have to go back home and face his parents.

* * *

**Damn...this chapter's rather on the short side isn't it? oh well... I like it, and I'm sure you were all expecting some hot Cloud X Riku action...welp...srry, you'll just have to wait i bit longer for that. The next few chapters won't come out as quickly...chapter nine is long and I still haven't finished it so im pissed off  
-Fire **


	7. Confrontation

Riku got to school rather late the next day and actually had to rush to get himself into class on time and he muttered and cursed to himself until he was seated in his careers class. He took out his notebook and started to draw, to try and get his mind off how crappy a night it had been. During the droning of the teacher Riku decided that he would talk to Sora at lunch, he didn't know why…maybe it was just curiosity. No, it was definitely curiosity. He wanted to know why Sora picked fights with Riku and Riku's gang and why he thought he should be the one to try and protect everyone when he's just a week, new, freshmen who was just going to get himself hurt in the long run. Riku couldn't help but be interested in something like that.

Careers went by fast enough and soon Riku was in English class, luckily today was the day they got to hand in their stories and finally start something new. They were starting the play Julius Caesar, it was something Riku both liked and hated at the same time. He had previously read the play just for something to read after he had read Romeo and Juliet for the first time in grade eight, he just decided he liked the way Shakespeare wrote so he read a lot of the plays the man had written, including Julius Caesar. They started by reading the first scene out loud, the teacher would stop and explain what the characters were saying every two lines, this annoyed Riku to no end and when they got to things that were meant to be funny but no one could understand it because it was in Old English, Riku would snicker. Shakespeare was a pretty funny guy. If the teacher asked the students to try and translate, Riku would either volunteer or be chosen, but almost every time it was him who had to say what the text meant. They were about half way through the second scene, to be more precise, one of the air headed blonds in the class was trying to pronounce a long word when the bell for lunch rang and they all packed up quickly and were out the door talking quickly. Riku wasn't nearly as quick to get out of class today; he was still trying to tell himself what he was going to say to Sora, though he was pretty sure of himself by now.

He was down the stairs and half way to the caf when he saw Sora walking in the opposite direction and made it so he could grab onto the minor's arm as he walked by. "I need to talk to you," Riku stated without looking down at Sora but not in the least letting up his grip on the boys arm as he walked towards a set of stairs he knew no one went in. There was a large part with lots of room where no one walked Riku stopped there and let go of Sora who hadn't said a word, that Riku knew of, the whole time he had been dragged through the halls.

"What do you want?" Sora asked with a frown, crossing his arms and glaring up at Riku who was a few inches taller then him, his deep blue eyes seemed genuinely pissed off, but Riku was sure in their depths he could see a spark of curiosity, which didn't shock Riku in the least, he had a right to be curious as to why this guy who had beaten him up twice now suddenly pulled him away from everyone to talk to him.

"I was just wondering what the fuck is wrong with you," Riku stated, looking off to the side and shrugging, avoiding Sora's gaze which he could tell had changed to shock rather quickly, though it seemed to quickly turn back to fury, but the brunette didn't say anything as though expecting an explanation which Riku gladly gave to him. "Why the hell would a wimpy little minor try and stand up to a group as big as mine, seriously, you do know Seifer and Squall are nineteen years old right," Riku explained, looking back at Sora with a smug look on his face.

Sora face suddenly turned rather smug as well and this caught Riku off guard, he expected the shorter boy to be upset or embarrassed, not smug. "Wouldn't that 'Cloud' friend of yours be nineteen now too?" the brunette asked in a very mocking tone and it was Riku's turn to look shocked, Riku slowly felt the anger bubble up inside of him as he glared down at the younger boy, he clenched his fists and glared daggers expecting an explanation now, "Or have you finally given up on imaginary friends?" Sora asked with a sly smile. It took all of Riku's self control to keep from smashing this little guy into a wall and beating the crap out of him.

"You were there on Tuesday; we were all talking about Cloud right there in front of you," Riku said in a voice that sounded rather like a snarl.

"I wasn't paying attention, in case you hadn't noticed I had been trying to stop the blood gushing out of my nose," Sora shot back, "All thanks to someone who decided to beat up me AGAIN!"

"That was NOT my call, that was all Squall, but you're right, I am going to beat you again. The clothes I was wearing on Tuesday were Cloud's as well."

"Oh? Wearing his clothes? What were you up too?" Sora asked his face, though still smug now had a sudden hint of suggestiveness which made Riku's eyes widen, and he might've even blushed, though he really hoped he didn't.

"Shut up you little brat. I had stayed the night at his fucking house because my parents kicked me out of mine!" he said in a sudden fury trying to erase the embarrassment he had felt just moments ago, and for some reason those words seemed to hit something with Sora who took a step back and sudden looked upset and Riku tried his hardest to ignore the slight pity he thought he might have seen in the back of Sora's eyes before the brunette looked into the corner of the room instead of at Riku. He looked back not soon after with a smug look back on his young face his blue eyes happy again.

"Yeah…well I just wanted you to know, you may have a bunch of nineteen year old friends but they're nothing compared to my friend, Axel. He's twenty one and could kick Cloud's ass anytime," Sora said in an almost sing song voice, the voice itself really got on Riku's nerves and the words themselves almost pushed Riku completely over the edge for the third time this conversation.

"Well the, how the fucking hell do I know this 'Axel' guy isn't as fake and stupid as you once said Cloud was?" Riku said in an extremely pissed voice, his aqua eyes not leaving Sora's happy blues, hoping that he could burn a hole through the obnoxious boys head and hopefully kill him with just this one look.

"Well I guess you don't have any way of knowing, but you will soon, Axel's coming to town soon and he'll glad hand you Cloud's ass on a silver platter. Just so you can see how served Cloud will be," Sora went on, and it was still pissing Riku off to no end, Riku could feel himself shaking in rage.

"I'd fucking shut the hell up if I were you," Riku warned. Sora didn't listen.

"Or what? You're gunna call Cloud to come beat me up?" Sora started to laugh after that, thinking he must be the funniest guy ever, but the laughing stopped quickly as Riku grabbed his throat and pushed him into a wall and the brunette instinctively grabbed Riku's wrist trying to push him off, but Riku was stronger then he might look and as pissed off as he was now there was no way he would simply let go. Riku leaned in closer so his mouth was right next to the younger boy's ear.

"I fucking warned you," he hissed hatefully. He switched his grip from Sora's neck to the collar of his shirt. He pulled Sora across the abandoned hall of the seemingly abandoned corner of the school. He ripped open a vacant locker and shoved Sora into it; it was a very easy feat since Sora seemed to shocked to do anything, Riku caught one last glimpse of Sora's shocked voice before he slammed the metal door shut. Riku had no real way of locking it so he took a pace back and kicked the place with the little hold for a lock hard enough to bend it upwards slightly, enough that it would take a lot of force to rip the bastard back open. Riku kicked the locker a couple times. "You squeal and I'll fucking murder you and this 'Axel' guy," he hissed through the slits near the top of the locker then stormed off, he went upstairs and wandered around the second floor until the bell rang for the end of lunch and he went on to his art class.

In his art class they were painting, apparently they were supposed to paint something meaningful yet abstract, something they really showed how they were feeling. Riku expressed all his damn feelings in it that's for sure; there was a lot of red on the paper in the end. During this activity he really thought over and each and every emotion he was feeling at the time, most of them were simply synonyms for hate or anger but he couldn't help but feel some grief which he showed by dipping the tip of the brush in the blue then using his fingers to flick it onto the page with the top of the brush, then he covered it with the angry red/orange, as though to show a hidden emotion. He also felt curious and confused which he represented as little green swirls here and there. Lastly he felt slightly amused which he showed by tiny squiggles of yellow again underneath streaks of red or orange. He also added black in to show the parts of his emotion that even he did not understand. His piece was again ,one that was shown to the class as an amazing example, his teacher explained what she thought everything meant as Riku sat looking extremely pissed off. The weird thing was she understood it absolutely perfectly and she called him to her desk near the end of class and asked him what was wrong…he didn't answer.

Math class was somewhere he actually decided to pay attention, or at least he wanted to, but the girls that sat behind him were doing their usual gossip routine through the class, the main topic today was the freshmen they found in a broken locker who refused to say anything about who locked him in there and why. They were discussing who would be cruel enough to do that sort of thing, they did think for a while that it was probably someone in 'Squall's gang' but they only talked about them for a while before the moved on to what the guy could have possibly done to get someone that pissed off at them. Then, as always they moved on to what grade the guy who did it might be in and how hot was he? The girls would never know the guy who did it was sitting right in front of them, it was not something Riku would like to broadcast and it seemed as though Sora had done what he was told and hadn't told anyone that Riku was the one that did that to him. Riku did manage to finish the math homework before the bell rang and got to read for a while before he had to leave and he was glad that the day was over…except for, of course, his detention. Today they probably wouldn't be lucky enough to get Mr. Highwind to leave the classroom today.

He got into the room and sat down at the same place he had sat the day before. He sighed and looked at everyone, it was pretty much the same group as the day before expect for a few different people here and there. Soon enough Edge, Squall and Seifer came into the room, Seifer almost immediately fell asleep at his desk and Edge couldn't stop laughing as he tried to keep himself from drawing on the dirty blonde's face, though he did end up taking Seifer's hat and putting it on, just to see if the guy would notice when he got up or not. The only thing Squall would let them do to Seifer's sleeping form was mess up his hair which Edge did as much as he could so that it really looked like Seifer had just gotten out of bed. Mr. Highwind seemed to be absorbed in some war novel and didn't really care what the group did as long as they didn't get to noisy. Riku decided to read through most of the hour they were locked up in here and didn't do anything as Edge shoved Seifer's hat on his head, except push it up so it wasn't covering his eyes. He barely noticed, though he did note it, that Squall would very often look over at him with a curious maybe even pissed off look, Riku said nothing. He was also glad that they apparently hadn't heard about Sora getting shoved and locked in a locker, though that may have been what Squall was looking at him for. Finally after forty minutes of Edge complaining that he was bored and wanted to go home Mr. Highwind looked up at the clock and put his book away, pulled on his jacket and pulled out his smokes and said they could go. Edge quickly jumped to his feet and woke up Seifer, who could barely keep his eyes open and didn't notice that his hat was gone, even after running his hand through his hair a couple times and he probably wouldn't have noticed at all if Edge had stopped laughing. When he did notice he yanked the hat off Riku's head and put it back on and glared at Edge, who could barely contain his laughter.

The walk home went by quickly he tried to concentrate all his energy on keeping himself warm in the blistering cold winter wind. And he seemed to be home faster then usual and he was glad to see there were no cars in the drive way and he would be home alone for the next while. He went inside got something to eat and went upstairs and into his bedroom where he decided he would spend the next while reading, thinking, listening to music and avoiding his parents who came home not that much after he did and he managed to go the whole night without having to talk to him, which was one small stress off his shoulders for now, and soon enough he was fast asleep where he could peacefully stay in his dreams which, unfortunately ended up being filled with not only his group of friends and Cloud, but also that fucking brat Sora who he had found a new found hate for today. Riku just couldn't believe he could still think Cloud was fake and have the guts to say shit like that to Riku. He wondered briefly, right before consciousness slipped away from him completely whether or not that brat Sora had a death wish or something along those lines, because Riku would gladly grant his wish if he kept on acting the way he had been for the past couple days.

* * *

**Don't worry for all of those just reading this for the Yaoi....it's in the next chapter ^_^ i swear. I'm srry i didn't upload this earlier...I'd blame my editor but it's not her fault. I'm only on Chapter 10...and i still want to update weekly...So i gotta pick up the pace.  
~Fire**


	8. Not A Lie

Riku was fighting with his locker at lunch the next day, which as per usual was refusing to open. He was actually hungry and the food was right behind this damn metal door, which even on his fourth try he couldn't open. He wondered briefly if Edge could sense that he was having trouble with his locker, the ninja kid was probably mocking him right now. Riku could hear his voice, 'He's probably trying to open that locker of his. He's got the easiest combo ever but can never open the damn thing. It's pretty funny.' The thought of it made Riku smash his head into the locker and keep his forehead pressed against the cool metal. He grumbled curses to himself as he tried to mentally prepare himself for another failed attempt at opening the devil locker.

"Having trouble?" someone asked. Riku always expected it to be Edge to say stuff like this and he was honestly very shocked at the voice he heard. His eyes shot open and he looked to the side without taking his forehead off the locker and he saw the short brunette grinning up at him, the mocking tone that had laced his voice was also very noticeable in his eyes and it really pissed off Riku.

"What's it to you?" Riku spat, taking his forehead off his locker and crossing his arms over his chest and glaring at Sora.

"Well nothing really, but how about you let me take a turn," Sora offered. "I'm good with locks."

"No, thanks," Riku said and he tried opening his locker again, hoping life wouldn't be that much of a bitch to him and make him fail once again in front of this little brat. It opened and he almost sighed in relief, but he did manage to hold that back. "There, see. I don't need help from some annoying little brat, now go away," Riku commanded, glaring back at Sora.

"Whatever. I just wanted to tell you that Axel's coming to pick me and Kairi up after school and he'd love to meet you," Sora said with a very smug look still on his face. He must've expected to shock Riku, and in all honesty he did shock him slightly, but he didn't dare let it show on his face. He actually really wanted to meet this 'Axel' guy, but again that was something he didn't want Sora to know.

"Yeah, well sucks for him because I've got detention after school, so unless you want to wait for an hour after school for me, you might as well just leave," Riku said, getting his lunch out of the bottom of his locker and shoving it in his bag and slinging it back over his shoulder. He closed the locker and looked at Sora again.

"Oh, well it would have been fun for you to have met Axel," Sora said with a shrug. "That's all I really wanted to say. So I guess I'll see you around. Bye," the brunette said with a large smile before walking off leaving a very confused Riku staring at his back. A lot of things ran through Riku's mind at that moment, why the hell was this little brat who just yesterday he had shoved mercilessly into a locker suddenly figuring it's all right to talk to him and in such a mocking, almost threatening matter it almost made. Riku wasn't to skip detention just to beat the crap out of this Axel guy, but he couldn't do it, maybe part of him was scared for the embarrassment that would ensue if this guy was actually going to show up and was actually as tough as this brat said. Riku was acting like Sora had, he was saying in his head that there is no way a stupid guy like this could exist, the same thing Sora had done with Cloud. Riku sighed loudly and shook it off as he walked into the cafeteria and sat down at his usual table next to Edge who was sitting next to Squall who was working busily in a notebook.

Lunch other then that was pretty silent, every once and a while Riku and Sora would glare at each other from where they sat and Edge brought up the question of who shoved Sora into the locker, he immediately expected it to be Riku who admitted it, not ashamed of it, but he hoped the gossip flocking girls in his Math class wouldn't come to the same conclusion. Riku actually ate this lunch period, though he did it very subconsciously, someone could've put something else in his hands and he would have mechanically put it in his mouth, but no one did. No one even seemed to notice how robotic he looked, it was pretty normal for a high school student though. Lunch ended quickly though and Riku shoved his empty lunch bag into his back pack and headed off to Art class.

Art class was actually boring today. The teacher wanted them to do the same thing they had done yesterday, just to compare to the one they had done yesterday. Riku's today had less red a bit more blue which was hidden under even more swirls of green which stood again for his curiosity and confusion, this time all about this Axel guy and why Sora does what he does. He also drew a deep sea blue and smudged black into it to show those abysmal eyes of the brunette that kept popping into his head and aggravating him, then he slashed over it with red and green as though to scream 'I DON'T GET IT! WHY THE HELL ARE YOU LIKE THIS!?' and it looked as though he had captured that well. There was also a lot of black in between the other colours to show the empty parts of his mind, the places where the puzzles pieces of his life and of his mind had still not been put together. Today the teacher chose his and one other persons to show to the class and she tried to decipher them again. She got the girl's, she had taken spot on and it made the girl blush because there was a lot about a secret crush wrapped into her work. Riku's though, she seemed to actually have trouble with today, especially with the blue circle that represented Sora's eye. But in the end she got pretty close and gave up and again she decided to ask him if anything was wrong despite the lack of red, maybe today it was about how confused his artwork made him seem. Thankfully again the bell rang before he could utter a word to her. He wished she wasn't so nosy, other then that she was a good teacher.

Math class was lax today which was both a good and a bad thing. It didn't keep his mind occupied while the teacher explained the short lesson then assigned them their work which was little to none and Riku finished within the first fifteen minutes it was assigned. Riku decided to read after that, though he ended up having to help Tidus with his math work because, like a lot of the other students the class, he was completely stumped. The teacher came up while Riku was trying to explain something and asked if they were all right with the work. Riku told the teacher he was done, and the man looked rather skeptical but took Riku's place with lecturing Tidus on what he was doing wrong and how he could fix it. Riku simply went back to reading. One of the girls who usually spread all the rumours wasn't there and the other one was very quiet without her so Riku couldn't eavesdrop on what may be going on around the school, even if it was just pointless stuff that he didn't care about. Luckily the book he was reading was good, though he was almost done it, it kept him preoccupied for the most part and kept his mind off of what had been taking over his mind since lunch today. Finally class was over and he could go and read in detention for an hour then sleep and sleep. The weekend started once he got home, so he had no worries for the next while. The thought made him sigh as he put all his stuff away and slung his bag over his shoulders and headed through the school to the detention room and sat down just to open his bag and take out his book again.

Edge sat in his chair with his feet up on the desk and started telling off the high preps in the corner who were trying to hit on all four of them. They looked offended enough that it got a chuckle out of Squall. Riku kept on reading and Seifer had fallen asleep again. Edge had taken Seifer's hat again and Riku had somehow ended up wearing it, again. Riku seriously wondered whether or not Seifer was getting enough sleep at home, or maybe he was just a lazy ass. Mr. Highwind was ignoring them all as per usual and was reading the same novel he had been the other day. The hour still ended up going by slowly like always and when it was over Edge woke up Seifer, Seifer didn't notice his hat was missing until he saw Riku wearing it and he snatched it away from him and shoved it back on his head and they all left, going their separate ways once they stepped out the door of the classroom. Riku stopped by his locker and managed to get it open on the third try and he got all his stuff and pulled on his coat before he went to leave the school and start his freezing cold walk home.

He stepped outside and started walking like usual and didn't even notice anyone else was out there until a familiar voice was calling his name and he turned to glare at the familiar freshmen who now seemed to be stalking his everywhere he went. Sora walked up to him and Riku glared at him for a while before looking past him. He saw Kairi talking to a tall guy with spike blood red hair who had his hands jammed into his black jacket and a smile on his face. Riku looked at him for a while then turned back to Sora. "What the hell do you want this time, brat?" he asked.

"Axel really wanted to meet you, so we waited," Sora answered with a shrug. He looked over his shoulder and motioned for the tall guy to come over and he walked rather quickly over to the two teens. "This is Axel." Riku looked Axel over once before looking back at Sora, he wouldn't dare let his surprise show on his face, but he couldn't believe that he hadn't been lying about this Axel guy coming here. Axel had to be at least six foot five and he practically dwarfed the other two boys. Riku had noticed he had two teardrop shaped tattoos under his eyes and they really seemed to make his green eyes almost glow.

"So, what does it have to do with me?" Riku said with a shrug.

"Well…he didn't believe that you were as tough as you seemed to act."

"Oh? So you talk about me to your friends?" It was the first thing Riku had thought of when the brunette said that, and Sora seemed slightly discomfited at the statement and it seemed to get a chuckle out of Axel.

"I think he got you there, buddy," Axel said, roughly patting Sora on the shoulder who glared up at Axel, then straightened up and tried to look un-phased. It didn't work.

"Well at least I don't make up my friends," Sora stated as a comeback, though now, more then anything, it just bugged Riku.

"I don't know how many times I have to tell you that Cloud isn't fake," Riku said with the roll of his eyes and he folded his arms over his chest and glared down at Sora.

"Yeah, then why haven't you proved it yet?" he reached into his pocket and pulled out a cell phone, one of those little luxuries Riku wasn't allowed to have. "Why don't you give him a call and tell him to come down here then?" Riku glared at Sora then snatched the phone. He reached into his coat pocket and barely masked a sigh of relief when the slip Cloud had given him was in there. Riku dialed the number and just hoped he wasn't interrupting anything this time. It started to ring and he shoved the slip back in his pocket.

"Hello?" Cloud's voice sounded after the third ring.

"Hey, Cloud. It's Riku."

"Oh! Hey Riku, what's up?" Cloud sounded slightly shocked and even slightly concerned as he spoke.

"I was wondering if you could come down to the school, this brat who refuses to believe you exist wants me to finally prove you're real. And I'm not sure but I think he wants to try and pick a fight, again," Riku explained. Cloud was silent for a little and Riku could hear a bit of movement.

"All right, I'll be there in about fifteen minutes. I'll talk to you then all right?" He responded.

"Yeah, all right, sounds good, see you then. Bye."

"Bye." Cloud hung up. Riku flipped the cell phone shut and handed it back to Sora who was looking at him with an eyebrow cocked.

"He's coming soon, just give him fifteen minutes," Riku responded. Sora's curiosity could not be hidden and, even Axel looked vaguely interested, but he looked away from Riku quickly and looked at Kairi who was standing rather far away looking uncomfortable, like she wanted to go home. Riku couldn't blame her. Axel started motioning for her to come over and join them she shook her head vigorously every time he even tried to motion. Finally he stared her down long enough that she sighed and walked over to them, standing a couple feet behind Axel, but it seemed to be fine with Axel.

The next while was filled with awkward silence, Riku and Sora would glare at one another every once and a while. Kairi and Axel looked confused and would exchange looks and shrugs every once and a while. The wind would buffet their hair but Riku noticed Axel's didn't move much at all like it was cemented in place. Sora was spiked crazy as well but at least it moved slightly when the wind blew through it. Finally after about eighteen minutes Riku saw Cloud walking into the parking lot and towards them, he looked like he was trying to hide in his leather jacket. Overall Cloud's appearance made Riku sigh and he felt Sora tense through the thick air that surrounded them.

"Hey, Cloud," Riku called waving his hand. Cloud looked up and waved back, the first thing you noticed when he looked up from the ground were his piercing almost glowing blue eyes that you would probably be able to see even in the darkest night.

"Hi, Riku," the blond called back. Riku heard Sora draw in a breath and Axel chuckled again. Riku notice the cigarette in between Cloud's fingers and sighed. Of course, he did wish Cloud would stop smoking. Cloud stopped to stand next to Riku and examined the three people before him, silently judging them. He took a long drag before throwing the butt on the ground and stepping on it and breathing out the billow of smoke, the last of it coming out his nose. "So I'm guessing the short one is the one that doesn't believe in me?" Cloud asked looking down at Riku with a smirk and a cocked eyebrow. Riku nodded. Cloud nodded and held out his leather gloved hand to Sora. Sora took it and Cloud shook. "I'm Cloud, it's nice to meet you," Cloud said smiling genuinely, but Riku could sense the mockery in his tone and he was sure Sora had picked up on it too because he looked a bit offended.

"Uh…I'm Sora." He paused as he seemed to forget his manners but it soon bounced back and he pointed at Kairi. "That's my friend Kairi and this," he motioned to the tall man standing beside him, "is Axel." Cloud took a step forward and past Sora and Axel and he took Kairi's hand and kissed the back of her hand.

"It's nice to meet you, milady," Cloud said with a smirk at her. she turned bright red and pulled her hand away and turned her head to stare at the side of the school. Girls had always acted like that around Cloud, at least as long as Riku had known him. He always played the part of the gentleman when it was necessary, and he wasn't bad at it and he always had a good impression when it came to girls. Maybe it was because it made them fall even harder when they got rejected but Riku had no way of knowing. Cloud backed up a little and held out his hand to Axel who took it and they shared a good shake, "Nice to meet you as well Axel," he said as though he thought the name funny.

"Likewise, Cloud," Axel said with the same tone, which made an amused smile play across Cloud's face. Axel was nearly half a foot taller then Cloud who was about six feet tall and Riku could honestly say he had never seen someone who actually made Cloud look short.

"So how old are you, Axel?" Cloud asked the red head, folding his arms across his chest as he stepped back to stand next to Riku again. Riku looked at Axel curiously, honestly wondering how old this man was.

"Twenty one as of a couple months ago." Axel said with a shrug. "And how about you?"

"Nineteen as of August," Cloud replied with a smirk. Riku was pleased with how this was going. Sora looked extremely flustered and just that fact made Riku hold himself more proudly.

Kairi, who was now looking at the group instead of the wall and seemed to have gotten her red face under control, pulled on Axel's sleeve to get the older man's attention. He looked down at her with a questioning face. "When's Reno coming to pick us up, it's really cold out here," she whined in a quiet voice. She really seemed to not like being here though Riku was kind of curious as to who Reno was, he didn't bother asking, and with a look up at Cloud he knew that the blond wasn't going to ask either.

"Soon. I'll call him when we're done here," Axel said. "If you're cold why don't you try and stay inside." Kairi didn't move and had soon huddled herself up as best she could while still standing.

"So, Sora, I'm guessing you know I'm real now, right?" Sora turned red at the question as Cloud asked it.

"Yeah, I figured that much by now," Sora said in a muffled voice, he seemed rather pissed off and he wouldn't let anyone meet his eyes, maybe it was because he was thinking and his large eyes could be easy to decipher.

"Well that's good," Cloud said with a nod. "Is there anything else you would like to say? I really want to get home, and it's obvious Kairi over there is cold," the blond said, jerking his chin towards Kairi who was staring at the ground. Riku nodded in agreement. Sora finally looked up at Riku, then he glanced once t everyone else then back at Riku.

"Well. I thought you might like to know, Riku, that I'm currently going out with Axel," Sora said smugly. Everyone just looked at him shocked. Well…Kairi, Riku and Axel did at least; Cloud seemed to find it slightly amusing. Axel was the first to get over the shock as he figured out what Sora said and seemed to clue into much more, but Riku hadn't even noticed Axel's shock to begin with, he just couldn't stop gawking at Sora. He hadn't even thought of the thought that Sora could be gay and now the brunette stood before him with an older man's arm around his waist. Though Riku couldn't help but find it odd that Kairi seemed completely dumbstruck as well. But he couldn't let him mind linger on that, even if he wanted to, which he did.

"Isn't that pedophilism?" Cloud asked with a chuckle. He couldn't seem to get the smirk off his perfect, pale face.

"So what, I'm not going to let that get in the way of how I feel," Sora stated.

Cloud seemed to just examine Sora's face, then Axel's, then Kairi's then he looked down at Riku and the two of them shared a moment where all the information in Riku's mind seemed to flow out of his eyes and into Cloud's head. Cloud closed his eyes after a while and smiled softly, laughing slightly. He laced one hand into Riku's hair and ran his fingers through the near silver hair. Riku was not fazed at all. Cloud opened his eyes but didn't break the look he had with Riku as he said. "Then I'm sure you didn't know that I'm currently with Riku here then, right?" Cloud asked, Riku's immediately understood as much as he needed to as he looked into Cloud's constantly piercing blue eyes, this was one of the things Cloud was good at he would let the man continue, he knew he was just trying to get to Sora, and it was working, Sora had very obviously tensed up.

"You only said that because I said I was dating Axel," Sora stated. With a quick glance to the side Riku could see Sora's face was turning red, Kairi was once again looking at the side of the school and rubbing her eyes trying to keep warm but her face had gone slightly red again. Axel was staring at the two intently with a bit of a frown on his seemingly young features.

"I don't know Sora…that looks pretty real," Axel said in a loud mumble, which earned the tall man an elbow in the side.

"I still think it's fake." Sora stated bluntly obviously not buying their little charade one bit. And he was starting to look pissed off; Riku was shocked…had this kid always been such a brat? It was annoying.

"Really? So you want proof?" Cloud asked looking at them for a while with a cocked eyebrow and a toothy smirk. He had moved his hand from Riku's hair to the small of his neck.

"If you have it sure," Sora said with a shrug and a rather indifferent look on his face.

"All right then, whatever you say," Cloud said with a shrug. He looked back down at Riku and too the shorter man's chin in his hand. His eyes said 'just go along with it' and that made Riku's heart start to pound. Cloud slowly closed the gap between them and soon locked the platinum haired boy in his first kiss. Riku did as he was told and followed Cloud's lead. He had pretty much no idea what he was doing but he did what he knew as Cloud continued. Riku had closed his eyes, more because he couldn't believe this was happening then anything else. He could taste the smoke that lingered in Cloud's mouth as it moved to an open mouth kiss and he instinctively wrapped one arm around Cloud's waist. Then finally after what seemed like an eternity Cloud pulled away and Riku looked at the ground, he could tell his face was bright red, but he had his reason, he had just had his first kiss stolen by his best friend! And this best friend was a man! Riku wasn't gay. This was both the most irritating and exhilarating moment in his life, it was weird. His face was burning up, he didn't even want to chance a look up, but alas he found it necessary when no one was talking. Sora was bright red, Kairi still wasn't looking but he could tell she was even brighter red then she had been mere moments again and Axel looked slightly uncomfortable but it seemed as though he had seen that coming. Cloud was just smirking and Riku found himself staring at the blonde's lips and he couldn't help but wonder how many other people they had kissed. Riku shook his head to rid himself of the thought.

Axel patted Sora on the shoulder. "Come on, I think we've got it," his voice actually sounded amused, which confused Riku. "I'll call Reno and we'll go home, all right?" he said. Kairi sighed in relief and Sora didn't move. Axel frowned for a moment before pulling his phone of his pocket and started to dial the number as he took a few paces away to talk in relative private.

"Okay, I get it. That was pretty convincing. I'm really sorry for not believing you right off the bat," Sora started and Riku looked at him as he spoke. "I mean…about everything, not just Cloud's existence and everything. I'm really sorry for bothering you like that Riku," he said. He sounded like a little child, maybe he was trying to get sympathy points, but it wasn't working.

"Whatever. I'm leaving; I'm already going to be in enough trouble for not coming home right after school." Riku's voice sounded oddly high when he spoke and it made him clear his throat a couple times, he couldn't believe he was letting his affect him so much. He turned started to walk, brushing pat Sora with his hands in his pockets. There were footsteps right behind him and he looked over his shoulder to see Cloud just a couple paces behind him.

When they got to the sidewalk beyond the parking lot they talked as they walked side by side.

"I'm really sorry about that." Cloud said ruffling his blond spikes. "It was…just the looks the two of you were giving me were really giving me mixed signals so I wanted to get rid of that. You just…both looked so confused," he said with a sigh and Riku really had no idea what he was talking about. Mixed signals about what? "Was that your first kiss, Riku?" Cloud asked looking down at his friend.

Riku was silent and he could feel his face getting hot again. "Yes," he stated in almost a whisper but it made Cloud laugh none the less.

"That's actually slightly shocking, you're a pretty good kisser, you're a natural, buddy," he said in a very amused tone which made Riku feel slightly uncomfortable.

"Do you actually believe Sora's going out with that Axel guy?" Riku asked Cloud.

"I don't know. I didn't know what to think about that one, though the fact that Axel looked so shocked when he said that. It was either he had no idea what he was saying and the little brat had made it up on the spot or he hadn't expected him to say it, but it was true. I have no idea what to think about that one, they could very well be together. It would make sense for Axel to be shocked it Sora said that aloud to anyone because a person that old is not allowed to go out with someone as young as Sora. It's against the law." Cloud said with a shrug and a sigh. "As long as you don't let it bother you."

"I won't, there was no way I would let something like that bother me."

"But what about that kiss?"

"I won't let that bother me either, I know you were just trying to prove a point and shut that brat up, I can't blame you, I'm sure I would've do the same in your situation."

"You should get a lot of rest this weekend, alright?"

"Yeah, that sounds really good."

They were silent for a little while until they got to Cloud's apartment building and they said farewells and Riku continue on. He was tired and he just wanted to sleep for the next forty eight hours.

* * *

**Well, hope you liked it, I'm sorry to say that I don't know how quickly the next chapters will come out and I might have to take a break to catch up on it, because I only have the next chapter done for sure, don't worry though this story is to good for me to give up on I swear. ^_^'  
~Fire **


	9. Reunion

That night, despite what Cloud had said, he wasn't able to get his mind off of what happened. The kiss, the fact that Axel was real, Sora is gay, what Cloud had said, it was all racing through his mind as he tried to go to sleep, he didn't care that his clock only read 7:30 P.M. He lay with his head on his pillow with an orchestral piece by his favourite composer playing softly in the background. This was the kind of music he would usually listen to; it was the reason Edge had bothered making the disc he had for Riku. Annoyingly the phone rang in the background too, but Riku thought nothing of it.

"RIKU! Get the phone, it's one of your friends!" his mom called up the stairs making Riku groan. It wasn't often his friends called him. He got himself out of bed and paused his music as he went across the hall to the office where his father usually did all his work. He picked up the corded phone and sat in the large wheeled chair, pulling his legs up onto the chair as well.

"Hello?" There was a click as his mom hung up the phone downstairs and he waited for a response which he got rather quickly.

"Hey." The person didn't need to introduce themselves as it was very obviously Edge. "You doing anything tomorrow night?" the senior asked.

"No. Why?" Riku asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Cuz' we're having a little reunion at Squall's. You know, inviting everyone: Cloud, Zack, Kain, Nero, Weiss, Tifa. It'll be fun, and you being in the group for a second year have to come," Edge explained. "It'll also be hilarious seeing how the old members react to the new members. Zack's going to be laughing his ass off."

Riku smiled weakly. "Yeah, you're right that does sound fun. I'm in for sure." He wasn't really looking forward to seeing Cloud, even though he knew Cloud had only done what he did because he had to it as still going to be awkward, but a lot of people would be there, he guessed he didn't always have to be around Cloud, and he would love to see Cloud kick Seifer's ass for bringing a weapon to school and he was sure Tifa and Zack would join on that beating and hell, if they were beating up Seifer, Riku would gladly join them. Altogether, Edge was right, it would be fun, it wasn't a word Riku used lightly, he really missed everyone, the old gang.

"Awesome. Be there by five, all right?" Edge said happily, and Riku could almost see his large toothy white smile.

"All right, five sounds good." Squall only lived about ten minutes from Riku's house, on the street over, during the summer he could easily make that walk in five minutes, but it was winter, he couldn't help but move slowly.

"Okay, see you then buddy. Bye," Edge said.

"See you then," Riku replied and they both hung up at virtually the same instant and Riku put the phone back down and stretched in the large itchy chair he was sitting on. He looked out the window behind the computer and could see nothing but the distant dots of lights on the horizon, it made him sigh. It looked so peaceful, the peaceful view often made him feel bad, it always seemed as though it would never change regardless of how everyone else was doing whether they were embarrassed, hurt, happy, in love…it was always the same, to most it was a calming sense but to Riku it was sad it made him so irate that he could kill himself and even the thought of that made himself upset. How could anyone his age think about something like that, it just seemed so stupid that people his age all the time, all over the world were killing themselves because something in their life wasn't that great when they probably at least had a nice house, parents that loved them and no emotions that were so confused it made their heads ache.

He shook his head and stood up, shaking the thoughts from his head and he walked back to his room and sprawled out on his bed. He looked at the blinds that covered his window then looked at his radio and hit the play button and the calming music started to play yet again and it made him sigh. The cords that played across the piano for a beautiful solo was one of the only things that could ever really calm him down and help him clear his mind. Though still those lingering thoughts snuck forward and bothered him. He was so sure he was straight. Why had kissing Cloud not been as weird as it obviously should've been? And what about Sora? He seemed to not be able to get the brunette off his mind, was there something behind that as well, something he couldn't put his finger on? No. He always thought about the boy because he was everywhere now and it was frustrating him…right? YES, of course. And surprisingly Riku managed to fall asleep even with such muddled thoughts running through his head.

He woke but was still half asleep as the light filtered through his blinds and kept him from falling back asleep, no matter how much he hid under his covers it was no use; he was up, so he was up. He glanced at the clock from under his cocoon of blankets. It was just past noon. He sighed; he would be going to Squall's in almost five hours. That was way to long of a wait. He pulled the covers back over his head but was dead still as he tried to figure out what was going on in the rest of his house. His mom was downstairs in the kitchen doing the dishes and his dad was typing at his computer in the office across the hall. So Riku couldn't get up without having to face his parents. Hopefully they would be downstairs watching TV by four thirty so he would be able to sneak out the door without much trouble when it was time to leave. He would have to leave around four fifty to get there in time, he really didn't like that thought, it was way to long of a wait for him, but he'd have to live and bare with it. He groaned and closed his eyes, hiding in the mock darkness the covers around him created. The sudden thoughts rushing through his head made him think of what he had been thinking of last night and that made him groan even more. That was the LAST thing he wanted to think of. It would be awkward enough later on when he would be stuck in, probably, the same room with Cloud for an extensive period of time. At least Sora wouldn't be there. That would be the last thing he ever wanted. He groaned even louder and decided he should just listen to music and read to kill the time.

He dragged himself out of his warm, comfortable bed and was immediately cold. He rushed over to his bag that he had thrown down beside the door and rummaged through it until he found the book he had been reading. He threw that on his bed then picked up his folder of CDs and picked a CD he had burned that was actually three discs in one and was much longer then the ones separately. It was made up of about 40 piano pieces which were supposed to be orchestral pieces…but these were calmer and much more easy to follow, so every once and a while he preferred them. He put the CD in his radio and turned it on and set it a volume that wouldn't make either of his parents yell at him to shut it off then he crawled back into bed, though it wasn't as warm as it had been mere moments ago, but none the less, he got himself comfortable and started to read, dragging himself out of the world he was in now and drifting into the world his book created for him and he read the book and at the same time visualized it like he was watching a movie. It was amazing when an author could write well enough to let you do that, and it really wasn't a common thing and Riku couldn't help but be on the verge of ecstatic when he did manage to find a novel like that.

He just lay there and read and read, he music playing gently in the background of the movie like surrounding he had got himself into, it was so calming and it was the only time he was truly in bliss. He didn't know how long he had read but soon enough he put the book down and sighed as he finished the last page. He let his head fall back and hit the wall and the music continued to play softly next to him. Finally he hit the pause button and looked at the cloud next to it. It was around three twenty; he might as well get himself ready for the day. He pulled himself out of bed and picked out the clothes he would wear, throwing them onto the bed before walking out of the room and down the hall into the bathroom. He turned on the shower and let it warm up as he stripped himself down. He looked at his relatively small frame in the mirror for a moment before he stepped into the shower and let the warm water sooth his body and rid the cramps in his arms, back and neck that reading while lying in bed gave him. He poured some cool shampoo into his hand and lathered it slightly before running it through his hair, rubbing it into his scalp, his eyes closed as he thought. He started to hum subconsciously a song that he had just been listening to as he rinsed his hair and stood in the water and thought for a while longer about the book he had just finished reading. He would have to go to the mall sometime soon and pick up the next book in that series. He really wanted to continue it, he had really enjoyed the way the characters seemed to be developing, except the main character who he was sure no one really liked, he was a bit of a brat. One of the main characters newest travel partners though was really interesting and Riku loved the attitude he was given it was damn near amusing the way the main character would believe everything he said as though it was law, even though half the time he was lying. This character though was something of a mystery himself and Riku knew that later in the series his past would play a major role in the story.

He got of the shower after a while, though he didn't really know how long he had been in there. Probably between half an hour to an hour, luckily his parents didn't seem to care, they had stopped caring how long he stayed in the shower after he refused to listen to them when they yelled at him to get out constantly. He ran the towel through his hair a couple times just to dry it slightly and get rid of the excess water before he wrapped it around his waist tightly and he walked out of the bathroom and back down the hall to his bed room where he got himself dressed and ready then he headed back into the bathroom. By now the mirror wasn't fogged like it had been when he first got out of the shower. He took out his blow drier and started working with his hair which dried rather quickly and seemed to behave well today. He sighed when he was done and wished he had looked at the clock when he had been in his room. He walked back down the hall for hopefully the last time before he had to go he looked at the clock it was four forty. He frowned, he hoped it had been later then that, he didn't really want to have to stick around the house any longer then he had to, so he decided he would go now. He walked down the stairs and pulled on his shoes. "I'm going out mom. I'll be back later."

"Where are you going?" she replied in an accusing tone.

"Squall's." There was a very long pause after that.

"Fine. Bye," she said with an air finality, and Riku took that as his cue to just get the fuck out of the house, which he gladly did after he pulled on his jacket which was hung up beside the door. He shivered at the sudden exposure to the freezing cold of mid November. But sucked it up with a sharp breath and started to walk down the street with his hands jammed in his pockets. The walk really wasn't that long. He walked down the street, turned the corner, turned at the first possible right after that and he was practically at Squall's house. He walked up the driveway and rung the door bell, wondering if anyone else would be this early, he doubted it, not with his group of friends. Squall's mother, a nice woman with dirty blond hair, opened the door with a smile.

"Oh, hi Riku. You're early; I wasn't expecting anyone really here for another ten minutes or so. Squall and Seifer are up in Squall's room. You can put your shoes next to the door and I'll take your coat," she explained, stepping out of the way and letting Riku into the warm, inviting house. It was so clean, it was such a difference compared to his own house, which was a wreck. He took his shoes off where she had motioned and handed her his jacket which she hung up in the coat closet right across the hall. Riku turned to the left and headed up the stairs and to Squall's room. He figured he had made enough noise coming up the stairs that they would know he was there and welcome him when he stepped in but instead he was welcomed with a very nice view of the two men making out fiercely on Squall's bed with Squall's hands laced into Seifer's hair and Seifer's hands making their way up the back of Squall's shirt. Riku must've made some sort of weird squeaking sound because the two broke apart quickly and turned bright red and Riku took an involuntary step back. Squall sat up and let Seifer get up in doing so and the dirty blond took off pushing Riku out of the way and dashed to the bathroom and closed the door rather loudly behind him.

Deeming it safe now Riku walked in and turned the chair at Squall's desk where his computer sat away from the desk and towards the bed and he sat down in it, he cocked an eyebrow a Squall who just looked away, obviously not going to say anything at the moment, but Riku would get it out of him quickly. Riku wasn't at all sure though what was suddenly up with pretty much everyone he knew turning out gay, sure he knew Cloud was bisexual before hand, but now Sora, Squall and Seifer were all gay too? Who was next? Edge? "Squall?" he said, managing to make his voice sound stern.

"What?" Squall said in an equally strong voice. When Riku didn't say anything Squall finally looked over at him to see his questioning expression and the older man sighed. "I don't know what you want to know. I don't have to tell you anything. It's none of your business." He looked away in a huff. Riku was still silent and when Squall looked back he sighed exasperatedly and spilled everything, "Yeah, well, Seifer and I have been 'seeing' each other for only a couple weeks. It's nothing really…I don't know how to explain it, all right?"

"Fine," Riku said with a shrug, he didn't really care he was just curious. Squall hadn't really given him an answer but Riku could tell it was really hard for Squall to talk about it, so he dropped it. "Well people should be starting to get here, right?"

"Yeah, come on we're going downstairs to greet them," Squall said, getting up and brushing himself off before walking off and Riku followed downstairs and into the living room where they each picked a spot to sit. Squall picking a comfortable looking arm chair and Riku picked a spot on the end of a couch and the doorbell rang almost immediately when they sat down, making Squall groan as he got back up and walked down the hall to the front door and Riku heard Squall greet Reks and Vaan. The three of them walked into the room and they sat down on the love seat next to the couch and Seifer came downstairs a few minutes later and stood in the door way.

The door rang again even before they could strike up a conversation, which would have been awkward with how tense it was between Squall, Seifer and Riku at the instant. Squall got to his feet and went over to the door opening it and he, followed by Tidus, Riku wasn't surprised. He had sort of expected the wimpier members to show up first. Tidus took a seat on the opposite side of the couch as Riku and tried to start a conversation. "Last year I didn't really know all you guys…is there anything I should know?" he asked. Riku chuckled.

"Yeah. Don't get on Tifa's bad side," Reks said rolling his eyes and leaning on the arm of this chair. Tidus looked over at Reks and Vaan and stared for a moment.

"Are you two brothers?" he asked. Everyone laughed making the dirty blond look slightly embarrassed.

"Yeah, we're brothers. He must've mentioned me before. I'm Reks." He leaned towards Tidus and held out a hand which Tidus quickly took and shook.

"I'm Tidus. It's nice to meet'cha," he said and the door bell rang.

"Can we guess who it is before you answer?" Reks asked with a grin. Squall shrugged so they all guessed. "Nero and Weiss," was Reks' guess.

"Cloud." Squall and Seifer said in nearly the same instant. Tidus and Vaan looked at each other but didn't say anything.

"Zack." Riku stated after a moment of thinking, they others just kind of looked at him.

"Zack?" Reks repeated and Riku just nodded at the person as the door rung again and Squall got up and went to answer it. And Squall walked back into the room with a perplexed face as he was followed in by the tan skinned Zack Fair who went and sat himself next to Riku.

"Hey, it's been a while." he said to Riku patting the younger man on the back.

"How the hell did you know that, Riku?" Seifer questioned, looking just as confused and intrigued as Squall had.

"I don't know. It was just a good guess," Riku replied with a shrug.

"Guess at what?" Zack asked, his eyes, which were just as blue as Cloud's rested on Riku, but Tidus answered.

"They were guessing on who was going to be at the door," he said Zack turned to him and just stared for a second.

"Do I know you?" the black haired man asked.

"Uh, no, probably not. I'm new to the group. I'm Tidus," the blond held out his hand for Zack to shake and shake Zack did.

"Good to see a new face! As I'm sure you've figured out, I'm Zack Fair." The door rang again and they all stopped as though to think.

"Nero and Weiss," Zack said seemingly a hundred percent sure of his answer.

"Edge," the brothers said in unison.

"Cloud," Squall and Seifer said in the same.

Tidus didn't answer, not knowing enough people to guess.

"Tifa…" Riku stated after a while of thinking, Squall practically shot out of his seat and down the hall and ripped open the door.

"DAMN IT!" he shouted loudly enough for everyone to hear.

"Excuse me!" Another voice exclaimed and there was the sudden crack of skin hitting skin which made Zack burst into laughter. Reks laughed too, though not nearly to the same extent and even Seifer and Riku looked amused as Squall walked back into the room, rubbing his now red cheek followed by Tifa. Who went over to Reks who was the closest and gave him a hug and went around to everyone exclaiming to each that she hadn't seen them in so long, but after Zack she paused in front of Tidus who was looking down at the floor and fiddling his thumbs. "You're new right?" she said tilting her head to the side, her dark hair flowing over her shoulders.

"Yeah, I'm Tidus."

"We'll it's nice to meet you, Tidus. I'm Tifa Lockhart," she said with a smile, and he smiled back up at her. She turned to Squall and scowled at him. "So WHAT exactly was that about before?" she asked in a pissed off tone.

"We were all guessing who was at the door. Riku's been right on both counts so far, so, you know, I was getting a little pissed off," Squall explained as though he was talking to his mother, even though his mother would've been much less intimidating. Tifa seemed pleased with that answer and she sat down, squeezing herself between Zack and Riku. And after a couple minutes of virtually silence the door bell rang through the house once again.

Everyone looked at one another, "Edge," they all said at the same time and it made Tifa, Reks, Vaan and Tidus laugh and Zack smirked as Squall got up and brought Edge into the room. It was just common logic to all of them by now that after a girl, Edge would be soon to follow. "Hey Edge," Tifa, Tidus, Vaan, Reks, Zack and Riku all said at the same time, it seemed to confuse the hell out of Edge who looked at them all in turn before replying.

"Hey to all you guys too," he said before he went and sat on the arm of the couch that Riku had been leaning on until that moment. Edge looked at Tifa. "Good to see you haven't changed at all," he said with a stupid grin. Riku pressed himself against the back of the couch and Tifa's arm shot past him and punched Edge hard enough to send him onto the floor. Tidus had a look of understanding on his face as he glanced at Reks who smiled back at Tidus. Edge sprawled himself out on the floor and laughed along with Zack. "Yup! Same old same old," he said from his new spot on the floor and the doorbell rang once again.

"Cloud," Tifa and Zack said.

"Kain," Reks and Vaan said.

"Nero and Weiss," Squall and Seifer said. Edge and Riku were quiet for a short while before they both replied at the same time.

"Fran," the response, though, made Tifa and Zack exchange looks. "She's the other new person," Riku stated rather monotone and they nodded in understanding as Squall went over to the door and walked back followed by, of course, Fran. Riku's seemingly ingenious guessing was all just a product of hanging around Edge to much, so it was really no wonder that Edge would get the same answer.

Fran looked around at everyone and decided to stand between the couch where Tidus sat and the armchair Squall was sitting in. Zack and Tifa looked at her and she looked at them. "Nice to meet you." The two older people said in unison.

"Likewise. I'm Fran and who might you be?" she asked in her thick accent.

"I'm Zack," Zack said happily nodding, the spikes his hair was fashioned into swayed slightly at the movement but he had a huge smile on his face as per usual.

"And I'm Tifa, and it's good to see another girl in the group, instead another one of these hormonal apes," she said glaring, in a joking manor, at all the guys in turn. Her brown eyes rested on Riku and she smiled. "Except Riku here, he was just like a little kitten last year," she said hugging Riku again who forced himself to smile and look happy with Tifa's compliment but he didn't really know whether or not he should be happy or mad. Only a few minutes later the doorbell rang again and everyone was eager to shout out their guesses as to who it might be. Riku was only slightly shocked with how everyone guessed.

"Cloud," everyone said in virtually the same instant, including Edge, which shocked Riku even more seeing as he was the only one who had decided to think it through a little more, he knew Cloud would be waiting for something extravagant to come in on.

"Kain." Riku said after a while and everyone just looked at him as though he was stupid, especially Edge who sat up and was eye level with the arm of the couch and he had a cocked eyebrow and a rather disbelieving face on aside from that. Riku shrugged. Squall got up and went over to the door and no one heard him curse this time as he walked back in, scratching the back of his head followed by a very bored looking Kain. But he always seemed to be bored. His blond hair that touched the small of his back was pulled into a thin ponytail and he wore navy blue, and lots of it. His features were intense, including his blue eyes, though they were not nearly as intense as Cloud's eyes or as blue as Cloud's or Zack's. He stood between the couch and loveseat, just behind Edge, so he could lean against the wall.

"Damn it, Riku…how could you not guess Cloud?" Edge asked.

"I just didn't think now would be the time he would show up, it just doesn't seem like him. He'll probably be the next one here." As though on cue the door bell rang and they didn't even bother guessing as Squall got up and answered it. He walked back in with a confused face and no one following him.

"Uh…there was no one there," Squall stated in a confused tone that matched his confused features and it made everyone practically mirror his face, except, of course, Riku. Riku was just about to mention the large sliding glass door that led to the backyard when the door swung open and Cloud stepped in.

"Did I get you?" he said with a huge grin on his face, and everyone just stared at him in disbelief, Riku had seen that coming right when no one was at the door.

"Damn it, Cloud! What gives you the right to just barge into my house like that?" Squall demanded, suddenly looking rather pissed off. Cloud just shrugged and laughed as Zack started to laugh.

"Your dad's outside, he said I could just go in," Cloud stated with a smirk. Squall still looked mad, but slightly deflated at the comment. "So we're waiting for Weiss and Nero?" Cloud asked looking around. His gaze rested on both Fran and Tidus for a short while but he said nothing of it.

"Yeah, that sounds about right." Edge said scratching the back of his head, then he turned to Squall. "Then you're going to get us food right?" he asked, everyone else looked at Squall too.

"Yeah, the only real reason I came here was free food," Zack stated with a nod, which got him a punch in the arm from the large-chested women sitting next to him. He flinched as she did so and rubbed his arm slightly afterwards, most of the people in the room had felt the brute force behind Tifa's ways. Riku had never had anything that bad done to him by Tifa, a punch here a slap there, nothing big.

"Yeah, after Nero and Weiss get here I'll order pizza."

"But then we're still going to have to wait half an hour for it to get here," Zack whined like a six year old boy. Squall just rolled his eyes.

"So…I hear they're living together now," Tifa said trying to make conversation.

"That doesn't surprise me. They never said anything, but they're obviously in a relationship," Cloud said crossing his arms and nodding at Tifa's statement.

"Yeah. I don't know why they didn't say anything, we all knew right away," Edge said with a shrug. Squall, Reks and Riku nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, well we can't got telling them to tell us all their personal stuff, it's none of our business. That would be like…like…" Zack tried to come up with an example. After a little he stood up and looked at Tifa who looked up at him with a cocked eyebrow at his sudden movement, "So Tifa, when'd your latest boyfriend break up with you?" he said with a seemingly caring smile and she suddenly looked furious as she too got to her feet with clenched fists and Zack took off with Tifa close on his heels. There was a slam as the bathroom door closed and Tifa walked back still looking pissed off and they could all hear Zack laughing from where he had locked himself up in the bathroom.

"What a jerk," Tifa stated angrily as she sat back down next to Riku in a huff. Riku instinctively pressed himself harder against the arm of the couch putting as much distance as he could between himself and Tifa.

"Yeah, but he had a point," Cloud said with a shrug. "I mean…Nero and Weiss wouldn't over react like that, but it's an uncomfortable situation having your personal life questioned like that."

"You would know, wouldn't you, Strife?" Seifer asked from the opposite side of the room from where he leaned against the doorway.

"Oh, Seifer," Cloud exclaimed a look of mock shock on his face, "I didn't even notice there was a dirty weasel in the room." The two blonds glared daggers at each other. "By the way Seifer, I've got a bone to pick with you. Bringing a-" he started but was interrupted as the doorbell rang. Squall started to get up as though he eagerly wanted to get out of the room as quickly as possible, and with the sudden tense atmosphere between the two blonds on opposite sides of the rooms, Riku sure couldn't blame him.

"Don't worry! I got it!" Zack called from the bathroom and they all heard the door open and Zack walk loudly down the hall and open the door and say rather exaggeratedly, "Finally! We've all been waiting for hours," he said adding a sigh to his words. Zack must've been this way since he was little, he didn't seem as though he had aged at all since he was just a little kid, it made Riku wish he had known the guy when he was younger.

The three guys walked into the room and Zack sat back down between Tidus and Tifa and smiled at the two new comers. "It's been a while, how've you guys been?" Zack asked, and everyone else looked at the two long haired men their eyes all saying the same thing. Well…at least Cloud, Riku, Edge, Squall, Tifa and Reks did. Tidus and Vaan looked around awkwardly. Seifer was still glaring at Cloud and with a glance at Cloud you could see that every once and a while he would shoot a glare at Seifer then look back at the other two. Fran…Fran seemed to have her eyes fixed on a spot on the wall across the room and didn't look like she was paying attention to anything at all.

Nero and Weiss looked at one another and smiled almost lovingly. Then they looked at everyone else and almost everyone knew what they were going to say before they said it. "We're engaged," they said in unison, both having almost matching smooth voices. Tifa jumped to her feet and ran over to them, throwing her arms around both their necks and pulling them into a tight hug.

"Congratulations!" she exclaimed, "You guys are perfect for each other."

"Tifa, you're only that excited because you think you can plan out their wedding or something because you'll never find a husband yourself because you're fucking scary," Zack said with a laugh. Tifa glared at him and she started towards him and he was up and out of the room again in an instant,. and they heard the bathroom door shut loudly behind him but they could still hear his laughter echoing through the house.

"So when's the wedding? You're sure you're not too young for this sort of commitment?" Cloud asked with a cocked eyebrow and everyone looked as though they were really curious, about both questions and they probably all were. Everyone though seemed a hundred percent fine with it being two men they were talking about. Though Tidus seemed to have a rather awkward face on, but no one except Riku seemed to notice that. Riku honestly thought it was weird that sudden everything seemed so…gay, but he wasn't going to say anything though he did wonder what the rest of the school would say if they found out a good chunk of this gang was gay, they would probably be a laughing stock.

"We didn't tell you guys but we've actually been dating for about three years," Weiss said with a shrug and a smile on his face as he glanced up at Nero who was a little bit taller then the white haired man. Everyone actually looked slightly shocked. Riku wasn't that shocked but he had only known them for a year before this and wouldn't have known at all. "We've always felt this was about one another…we know this isn't just a little thing, we know we're right for one another. We're planning the wedding for New Years Day; we don't want it to be that big, just family, and everyone here."

Nero looked around at everyone, his gaze rested on Tidus and Fran. "Who are you two? I've never seen you guys before?" he asked with a cocked eyebrow, flicking his head slightly to get his long black hair partly out of his face.

"I'm Tidus…and she's Fran. We just joined the group this year. And how come everyone knows Seifer and Vaan but has never even seen me before. I went to your school for a year before this too," he stated, obviously a little bit pissed off at the fact. Everyone just sort of looked at each other as though that was a big shock to them. "I mean…I know Riku had at least seen me before because I was in a couple of his classes last year, but none of you other guys have ever even seen me before."

"We really just didn't ever pay attention to what didn't concern us; it's as easy as that." Cloud stated with a shrug. Tidus frowned and shrugged. "You can understand that right, Tidus?"

"Yeah, I guess…don't you think that's kind of rude though?"

"Yeah," Edge answered, "and you've turned into one of us haven't you, you're just as rude."

"Not like that," Tidus said shaking his head and frowning, and everyone looked at him with cocked eyebrows. "I'm a part of the volleyball team and I was on the soccer and I tried out or basketball team, I do cross country and I'm a star at track and field events. I'm athletic representative for the student body, I'm a student ambassador, I do a lot of stuff around the school." Everyone just looked at him with incredibly shocked faces, including Riku, he had no idea any one in their group did anything to be involved with the school…it was weird. There was a sudden awkward silence covering the room and the tension grew greater. It wasn't a shock though that the one who ended up breaking the awkward feel was Zack.

"Squall! Order the pizza already! I'm starving!" he shouted from the bathroom. Tifa went back over to the couch and sat down next to Riku again. Squall got up and walked into the kitchen where he made the phone call to the pizza place. Weiss and Nero looked at one another then sat in the armchair Squall had been sitting in. They started talking quietly to one another with smiles on their faces. Riku looked around his gaze landed and rested on Cloud who he noticed was still glaring at Seifer and he couldn't help but wonder what the hell was going on between the two of them. But that shoved itself out of his head when Cloud looked over at Riku and smiled and Riku suddenly felt awkward as he remembered what had happened yesterday and how much, despite everything, he had really liked it. He quickly looked away from Cloud but felt the blonde's gaze pierce the back of his head with a sudden intensity. Squall came back into the room glanced and Nero and Weiss who had taken his seat before sighing and sitting between Tifa and Tidus.

"Well the pizza will be here within the next half hour." Squall stated. "All right, Zack?" he said louder.

"Fine with me," Zack replied from the bathroom. "Do I have to come out of here though?" he asked.

"We're not giving it to you in there if that's what you're asking," Squall replied, "So yeah, I guess you would need to come out of there if you get hungry."

"Don't worry Zack, I won't hurt you," Tifa said in a sweet voice, but she glared in the direction of the bathroom and cracked her knuckles. Zack didn't respond, he wasn't stupid, he knew she was kidding.

"He'll come out eventually, might as well leave him alone," Cloud said with a shrug.

"Why don't you go keep him 'company', Strife?" Seifer asked with a sneer. Everyone glared at Seifer and Riku couldn't help but wonder if everyone knew what Cloud did for money.

"Shut up, Seifer…can't you drop it?" Squall said glaring at dirty blond in the corner. Seifer looked slightly defeated as he looked at the side and shrugged. Riku looked at Squall out of the corner of his eye and wondered what exactly was going on between him and Seifer, after what he had seen when he first go here he had no idea what to think about that sort of thing anymore. He knew that it probably had something to do with why Squall suddenly disliked Cloud so much, but here he was standing up for the blond, it was all just very confusing.

The next twenty minutes went by with Edge asking if they could prank call someone. Squall had seemed pretty sure on saying no but finally broke after ten minutes. Edge grabs the cordless phone in the kitchen and runs back out then realizes. "Wait…she'll know it's me by my voice. Someone else do it." After a bit of discussion through looks alone Nero took the phone.

"Do you know if this person has caller ID?" Nero asked.

"Yeah, I know she doesn't…she kinda stalks me, it pisses me off I just want to scare the fuck out of her," Edge said with a sigh. "I heard half the time she gets a phone call she says 'Edge? Is that you?'" he said in a very mock girly tone. Everyone had to admit that was really creepy but it also sounded very unbelievable. "If you don't believe me put her on speaker." Nero sighed and typed in the number as Edge gave it to him then hit the speaker button as the phone started to ring.

"Hello? Is this Edge?" the girl on the other line asked. Everyone was pretty shocked that Edge had actually been right. Riku also noticed the voice seemed to pique Kain.

"No, even better. Look out your window; you'll see what I mean," Nero said in a rather creepy voice, with a hint of seduction, overall the tone made Weiss smirk at his lover. There was the sound of someone moving on the other line.

"There's nothing there," She stated, her voice monotone.

"Oh…are you sure?" Weiss said.

"Yes~ why don't you go check again?" Nero said. They could practically hear her breath quickening.

"Who the hell is this?" she asked.

"Your worst nightmare, Rosa," Weiss and Nero said at the same time, their voices almost equally creepy and perfectly in-sync. She let out a weird scared sound then hung up the phone. Nero and Weiss laughed along with Edge, everyone else was simply amused.

"How'd you know it was Rosa?" Edge asked.

"We aren't stupid. We could tell by her voice," Nero said with a smirk.

"Is she really stalking you?" Kain asked from the other side of the room, and it really got everyone's attention because this was the first thing Kain had said the entire time he was here.

"Yeah, she sure is, I see her everywhere at school," he said scratching the back of his head. "And I have two classes with her, it gets awkward." He sighed and looked at Kain with a smirk, putting his hands in his lap. "The only reason she's stalking me now is because you and Cecil graduated last year." Kain smirked at that.

"You're probably right."

"I keep forgetting about Cecil…" Reks started. "Why didn't we ever let him into our group?" He immediately looked at Cloud or the answer. The blond, though, shrugged and frowned.

"He just seemed unsure of himself…Kain, you told me that he often contradicted himself," Cloud said looking at the dark clad man at the back of the room.

"HA! That's for sure; he seemed like a wuss 'cuz of how he always backed down," Edge replied instead of Kain. Riku looked at Edge, then at Kain as the blond nodded in agreement. These two had been friends long before they started high school. Riku hadn't gone to the same school as them, but he knew that they used to hang out with people named Cecil, Rosa, Rydia and Edward. All of them had ended up going to the same high school; Cecil, Kain and Edward were the oldest and had graduated the year before, and Edge, Rydia and Rosa were in their senior year now. It was weird, but a lot of these people had been friends prior to high school. Out of them all, Riku hadn't gone to the same as any of them, except for Cloud, but that was only for a couple years, then he moved and started going to the largest elementary school in the area along with Zack, Tifa, Nero and Weiss. Squall and Seifer had gone to the same school as well. Tidus had moved here when he started high school as well as Reks and Vaan, all three of them probably would've gone to the same school Riku had gone to. Fran had moved from another country and no one really knew anything really about her past.

The doorbell rang and Zack was out of the bathroom and at the door in a flash. "Thanks man!" He called, "Squall come pay the guy!" he announced as he walked into the living room and put the pizzas down on the coffee table and sat down on the floor next to it as Squall got up and went to pay the man. Zack didn't even notice the glares he was getting from Tifa. He ripped open one of the boxes and took a long sniff before taking out two slices and started to eat. Everyone quickly followed, some of them acted like savages, especially Edge and Zack who looked like they would scratch one another's eyes out. Squall had luckily ordered four pizzas because the first one was gone in minutes.

Everyone who had left the group got into a discussion about what they do know and where they live, and it really was rather interesting to learn all these things about these people, especially since it turned out the only other ones that weren't living with their parents, aside from Cloud, were Nero and Weiss. The reason though was a terrible one at that, because their parents couldn't stand their relationship, because it was two guys, they got kicked out of the house. It even upset Riku to no end to here a reason like that, but it didn't show that much on his face. Zack and Tifa had the biggest reactions, Zack just because he is a loud person.

Around eleven people finally started to leave. The pizza had been gone since seven and everyone had been laughing and having a good time, even Riku was having a better time then he would think he would have. Reks and Vaan were the first to go when they noticed it was eleven because they had promised their parents they would be home by eleven. Tidus left soon after that to get home by eleven thirty. Everyone else was still having a lot of fun, Zack had asked if they could play strip poker, surprisingly they had been allowed, and surprisingly he had gotten Cloud, Tifa and Edge to play with him, though it turned out he wasn't that great at the game and was soon left in just his socks and underwear, getting laughed at by everyone else. Cloud had his shirt off and so did Edge. Tifa who had also lost a couple had worn two shirts, one of which was off, she had said there was no way she was taking off the other one because she knew that was why Zack had wanted to play with her, so she had taken off her pants. Riku looked around from where he still sat on the couch and noticed that Fran was no where to be seen, though it didn't surprise him that she had just up and left with all this commotion. After Zack lost completely but refused to take off his underwear and Tifa chased him around the house threatening to beat him up until Squall's mom came in and told them to shut up, then she just looked at Zack before telling him to put some clothes on. Kain said that he had to go home since it was midnight, hearing the time Nero and Weiss decided they would go home as well. Now that the party was down to Squall, Riku, Seifer, Cloud, Tifa and Zack they moved upstairs and into Squall's bedroom. They talked and shared secrets like young girls until Tifa left at twelve forty-five, Zack left a short while after that. Edge and Seifer left at one in the morning, leaving just Riku and Cloud as the last guests.

Riku had been in the washroom and he headed back to the bedroom. His hand rested on the wooden door when the sudden talking in the room caught his attention. "Damn Squall, can't you just drop it, I get it," Cloud's voice said through the room. Riku didn't know why he didn't just go in, he felt like he was intruding, and he was curious, no matter how rude that was.

"No, obviously you fucking don't, what you did was just fucking wrong. BOTH OF US! Are you kidding me?"

"No, I'm not kidding, I've told BOTH of you now and you're over reacting, though of course he is too."

"So this is why he's such a bitch to you."

"Would seem so, now can we drop this? I didn't mean to make something so big of it."

"You know what, I'm glad I don't have to fucking put up with you anymore, Strife."

"Likewise." At this Riku found it appropriate to walk in, they both immediately shut up and looked at Riku in mild surprise, though neither of them seemed worried. Cloud sighed and scratched his head, "Well I'm going to head out. Bye Squall." He started to walk out of the room but stopped next to Riku. "I'll see you later all right, buddy?"

"All right. Bye Cloud."

"See ya'." And with that Cloud left the room and swiftly exited the house. Riku looked at Squall who looked rather frustrated. Riku's eyes quickly drifted away from the angry brunette and to the clock beside his bed, it read one twenty, so the platinum haired boy figured leaving would be a good idea, not that his parents would care what time he got home at.

"I think I'm going to go to, all right?"

"Yeah, that's fine," the brunette replied, his anger seeming to ebb away slightly. "See you on Monday?"

"Yeah, bye, Squall," he said before he followed Cloud's lead and headed out of the house and started his short walk home.

He got home at almost one thirty and fell asleep almost immediately as he realized just how tired he really was after all that he had done that night. It had, honestly, been very fun and he hoped they could do something like that again some other time. Though he didn't know when they would ever decide to do something like that again, especially with how tense things had ended up between Cloud, Seifer and Squall. Stuff like that just made the whole meetings awkward, even with Zack, the tension cutter. All in all, he was just glad that he got to sleep in the next day because he couldn't move at all now that he was lying down, hopefully nothing would happen that would strain his brain even more then it already was.

* * *

**Great love for this chapter. I meant to have it up this weekend, but my editor was being lazy *glare* ok, well, I haven't actually been working on this story but i'll TRY to have the next chapter up by this weekend or mid next week . i have a few other stories started but i promise i will work on this since i have so much of the ploy thought out. Please, be kind, if you read it i'd like to know what you think about it in the form of a review LoL plz and thank you**

~Fire


	10. Riku's Recap and Sora's Story

On Sunday morning, or really Sunday afternoon, when Riku woke up he couldn't help but just turn on his music and think about all the things that had happened during the week. It was actually a shock that it had only been a week, and it had started with him fighting with his parents then going over to Cloud's. That had been weird, but a friendly surprise in the least, and it didn't bug him at all except for the fact that it really did end up being the whole reason any of this happened, right? No, maybe it was when they beat up Neku, Beat and Joshua and Sora decided to interfere, that would make more sense as the beginning of the problem, because it was the first time they really saw Sora. Sora, it was all his fault anything weird was even happening, they should've beaten him up along with Neku and them and then let him, so why did Riku find it necessary to find out who he was and start a big internal conflict with himself. He really couldn't believe what he heard when Selphie and Rinoa told him who exactly Sora and Kairi more, and he should've dropped it after his question had been answered, but he didn't. So he had decided to approach Sora, but that was, of course, after he had interrupted Cloud probably having sex with some random guy the night before, but that wasn't the point he was getting to. He had approached Sora again and learned about this Axel guy. Axel was just something Riku thought Sora was hiding behind, something that said 'oh, I'm just as good as you and there's nothing you can do about it'. He didn't know if that was something the young man would go for without a reason, maybe he had a reason…Riku didn't know. The next day, what day was that…Friday, November 18th, he had the privilege of meeting Axel, it was not something he had expected in the least, but none the less Sora, Axel and Kairi had been waiting for him outside.

At this time in his thinking he realized his music had stopped playing. He glanced at the CD player with a frown before pulling himself out of bed and downstairs, his mother was out and his father was upstairs in his office working, so he could put some frozen food in the microwave and eat in peace. When he finished he went right back upstairs and switched the CD with a new one and let it start playing as he lay back down and started to think where he had left off. Meeting Axel. They had force him to call Cloud and they had had a conversation about how real the two were. Then Sora went on to state that he was going out with Axel, that had shocked Riku, probably more then it should have, but he was shocked to no end…then what had happened? Cloud had told Sora and Axel that he was going out with Riku. How did he prove it? He kissed Riku. So within the week Riku had had his first kiss stolen by his dear friend Cloud, and he was sure there were a lot of people that wouldn't believe him if he said that aloud, and may even laugh at him. Seriously, a stud like Riku not having his first kiss until he was sixteen, that was pretty unbelievable. It wouldn't matter what other people would say though because no one would ever know. After that…had been yesterday, Saturday. It still shocked him to no end how quickly it seemed this week went by, yet so much had happened. This week affected his life more then almost any other event that had ever happened in his life, and that thought was actually slightly terrifying. But he still hadn't touched on the events that had taken place on Saturday, which had started with him going over to Squall's, going up to Squall's room, to find the brunette making out with Seifer. It had not been something he would have expected from the two who seemed to have been enemies since forever, though for some reason it seemed to explain a lot, like Squall's sudden change in attitude towards Cloud, because it was very clear that Seifer and Cloud had some sort of feud going on between them that Riku didn't really know about. The glares the had passed between one another, they had been so intense and full of hate, just thinking about the cold blue gazes made Riku shudder. Other then that there had been the announcement between Nero and Weiss, not that it had been a bad thing, just a little shocking. Riku, along with most of his gang, had already known that Nero and Weiss were an item, no matter how much the two had tried to hide it. They did seem a bit too young to want to get into such a big commitment though. But it was up to them how they wanted to live their lives, so no one had the right to get in their way, even though people would be against it no matter what. For some reason, people were still border line 'scared' of gays, because they're so different. Gays…damn, everyone seemed to be gay now; Cloud, Nero, Weiss, Squall, Seifer, Sora…he couldn't call Axel gay at the moment, because he didn't really know the guy and he had seemed pretty surprised about Sora's sudden exclamation…which Riku still didn't know was true or not…and he didn't even know what to assume about it. Well…after Nero and Weiss's announcement, nothing really important had happened, then there had been that conversation Riku had walked in on between Cloud and Squall, he still had no idea what that had been about either but he knew it couldn't be any good. It had something to do with Squall and Seifer, but it wasn't something Riku really want to think about. Hell, he didn't want to think about any of this stuff, but at least this had helped him understand the whole situation a little bit more. But it had also brought up so many questions that he was just as confused as he had been before he started to think about all this in a bit more detail. Riku sighed loudly and exaggeratedly as he flipped himself over and stuffed his head into his pillow, his silver hair falling all over his shoulders and pillow. Now he just wanted to go to sleep and escape this whole thing for another few hours.

He managed to relax quickly and turned his head to look at the wall on one side of his room, the paint was a pale blue and it distracted him a little, as he had never really paid any attention to his room in the past. He sighed, the room thing, on top of the calming piano music still playing in the back ground helped him escape and he soon found himself falling into a very deep sleep that he wouldn't wake up from until the morning afterwards, even if it was only two in the afternoon. After all the stuff that had apparently happened during the week, he deserved a day of sleep.

-------------------

Sora was sitting on his bed, it was eight the last time he had looked over at the clock, and it was probably still around that time, he hadn't been up that long, but for the whole probably ten minutes he had been up he had been thinking nonstop, which was kind of weird for him. He was so confused, and he had been for pretty much the past week. Riku was suddenly back in his life which was something he really hadn't been expecting, he didn't know Riku went to this school. He had gone and told Riku he was dating Axel. Why the hell had he been so impulsive, he just felt like saying that, he had been some sort of reaction from Riku, but not the one he was given. Aside from Riku's incredibly shocked expression Sora had also found out about Riku's relationship between Cloud, he would have never guessed Riku was gay, but that kiss, it had been so…real. Sora grabbed his hair, yanking it with a short yell, his brain pounded in his head. The noise must have alerted his mother to the fact that he was awake because she knocked on the door a few moments after Sora's little cry. "Come in," Sora stated falling back onto his bed and staring up at the ceiling.

"You are up…" she said opening the door and walking in. She noted the expression on her son's face and frowned. She made her way over to the bed and sat down on the edge of the bed not even bothering to bring up the fact the room looked as though a tornado had hit it. "Are you all right, honey?" she asked her blue eyes, almost identical to Sora's, looked worried and upset.

"I'm fine, I'm just thinking." Sora replied, looking at his mother out of the corner of his eye, a tiny smirk pulling across his face because he was, in a sense, glad that she cared enough to ask.

"Thinking?" she replied in mock shock, knowing that serious thinking or mental work was something that Sora would usual avoid at all costs. "What are you thinking about that could possibly make you so upset?" she asked.

"Just some guy from school," Sora replied with a shrug.

"That Riku kid?" she asked, cocking her head to the side making her very long brown hair sway softly around her as he son sat upright and looked at her with a confused, shocked expression upon his young features.

"Why the hell would you say that!" he exclaimed.

"Just a lucky guess," she replied with a shrug and a fond smile, "are you two friends now or something?" she finished with a question.

"FRIEND!?" Sora exclaimed smacking his palm on the bed on his said as his confused look slowly turned into an angry one. "There's no way in hell that guy is my friend! That bastard had beaten me up THREE times now!" Sora yelled. It made his mother frown some; apparently she hadn't been expecting an outburst quite like that.

"Oh. All right. Well we can talk about it later," she said standing up, "I have to go to work right now." She made her way through the wreckage that was Sora's room and stopped in the doorway. "Are you going to do anything today, if you're as stressed as you seem maybe you should call Kairi and enjoy our Sunday," She said, with a fond smile that stretched across her face.

"All right. I think I'll do that," he said nodding. "See you later, Mom," he said giving her a short wave and smile as she left, closing the door behind her. He waited a while, focusing solely on his mother's foot steps as she made her way through the house and out the door. He sighed then and got himself out of bed. He looked down at his half naked form and scratched the back of his head with a shrug, deciding he could change after he asked Kairi if she wanted to hang out, it would be pointless to get dressed otherwise. He walked through the house to the kitchen where the nearest phone was. He picked up the cordless device and dialed Kairi's number to fast for the little machine to even make the beeping sound right after he pushed the button. He held it up to his ear and waited for his friend to answer.

"Hey, Sora," Kairi stated as she answered the phone, and it wasn't that she was psychic that she knew it was Sora, it was an amazing invention called caller ID that told her who was calling, though Sora wouldn't have been surprised if she could know who it was without caller ID.

"Hey Kairi. I was wondering if you'd wanna hang out today. Maybe hang out at the park then go get lunch," he suggested.

"Oh. That sounds like fun, want me to come over to your house now?" she asked.

"Yeah, that sounds good. But take your time; I still have to get ready," he said with a smile.

"All right, I'll talk to you later then, Sora."

"Okay, bye."

"Talk to you later." They both hung up and Sora started back to his room to get himself ready for the day.

He was dressed and ready to go within the next ten minutes, and he was sprawled out on the couch in the living room to wait for Kairi to finally show up which he knew wouldn't take to long, and it didn't, she was there within the next five minutes. The doorbell ring and Sora slipped off the couch, landing on the ground with a light thud, waiting another few moments before he actually got up. He walked over to the door and put a smile on his face as he opened the door and Kairi practically hopped over the threshold and into the house. "Close," she said, she was shaking like mad and Sora did as she said.

"Is it really that cold out?" he asked looking her over. She was wearing a blue knit hat a bit of her bangs sticking out the bottom of the front and pushed to the side. She wore a brown double button jacket which looked like it couldn't be that warm. She had on a sky blue scarf, covering her neck and chin then draping over either side of her shoulder. Black gloves covered her hands which she rubbed up and down her arms. She wore light blue jeans and tall suede brown boots, going up almost to her knees. He looked back up at her face and almost jumped back as he was greeted by a very fierce gaze.

"It's freezing," she stated.

"Maybe you should get a warmer jacket then," Sora suggested, grabbing his large jacket off a hook next to the door.

"This is warm." She said, "It's just really cold outside."

"Okay, well want to stop and get hot chocolate then go to the park?" Sora asked pulling on his jacket and putting on his shoes at the same time.

"Hot chocolate sounds good…all right," she said nodding once quickly.

"All right, then let me go get money, I'll be right back," Sora said running off into the house, to his room and scrounging up a twenty stuffing it in his pocket as he ran back to the door. "Okay. Let's go," he said, pulling the door back open and stepping out into the cold. The initial shock of the change in temperature made him flinch back, Kairi had been right, it was freezing. He sighed though hoping she hadn't notice him flinch, but of course she had even if she didn't say anything. He sighed as he put his hands behind his head and started to walk, his nose already felt like it was frozen off, he turned on his heel and smiled at Kairi who was closing the door as she walked outside as well. "It's not THAT cold," he said with a laugh receiving an eye roll and an amused smile.

They walked down to the near by coffee shop and ordered hot chocolates. The guy who had taken there orders was the brother of one of the guys that went to their old school, after they had left the one that had gone to with Riku. It was a bit of a shock, but they asked how Zidane was, and learned from a relatively pissed off Kuja that he had no idea and didn't care how his brother was. But they were sure they had seen something in the man's eyes that begged to differ, which struck up their first conversation as they sat down at a table on the far side of the roomy place.

"Kuja can't be that much older then us, can he?" Sora asked, stirring his incredibly hot, chocolaty beverage.

"Well, I'm pretty sure Zidane said that Kuja was four years older then him, and Zidane was a year older then us, so I guess Kuja's about nineteen years old now," she said tapping her lip with her stirring stick.

"That sounds about right," Sora agreed, and there was silence as the two started to drink. Then Sora giggled slightly as he decided to say what he had been thinking, he knew he had Kairi's attention as he said, "He looks and sounds like a girl." He let his forehead hit the table in front of him as he laughed.

Kairi frowned at his rude comment but she found herself looking over her shoulder at the man still working behind the counter. Sporting a uniform, it made you wonder what he would wear other wise. He was wearing a hair net now but his lavender coloured hair looked like if it was free might go down to his waist. He looked as though he was wearing a bit of makeup around his eyes and his nails were polished a lavender colour to match his hair. He wore black, fingerless, gloves that had a gold trim around each finger, the bottom and where it undid. His shoulders were thin and not very muscular, and he had almost woman like curves. He did, overall, look like a girl. Kairi didn't voice her opinion though. She didn't have the chance as she noticed a familiar shock of blond hair walk by the window, but she didn't have time to place the owner before they were gone and she frowned, her eyebrows creasing. Sora noticed this change in appearance and cocked an eyebrow.

"What's wrong?" then he smirked. "Did you think he's hot?" he questioned with another laugh.

"No! I just…thought I saw someone I knew," she said looking back out the window before sighing and taking another sip of her drink.

"Whatever you say," Sora replied following her lead. The roof of his mouth tingled, he probably shouldn't have downed the drink so fast, it really burned. There was a ring of a bell as someone entered. Sora, who had a perfect view of the door from where he sat, looked up at who had entered. He froze. That hadn't been something he was expecting. "Uh, Kairi…did you mean someone like that?" he asked jerking his head in the direction of the two people who had walked in. The girl looked over her shoulder, caught a glimpse of the same blond hair she had seen out the window and turned back to Sora nodding vigorously. Standing there with some unknown man was the same Cloud they had met on Friday.

"Should we leave?" Kairi asked, fidgeting with the cup in her hands as she kept looking over her shoulder at Cloud and the other man as Kuja seemed to be hitting on them.

"No. We were here before, besides why would they care." Sora stated with a shrug, though he to had a hard time not looking over at Cloud, who seemed to have a bit of a cold, razor like, edge to his gaze today. His companion was much shorter then the blond and had hair that was longer in the front then in the back and a navy blue colour. His long bangs fell over one of his eyes; the visible one seemed to have a very passive, indifferent look about it, which was the same with the frown on his face. The two were served and started to walk to the corner on the opposite side of a low wall with assorted plants then Sora and Kairi, who ducked down slightly as though not to be seen by the two older men as they passed, which was, surprisingly, a success.

"Do you feel kind of awkward?" Kairi asked Sora. She had moved from fidgeting with her cup to twirling a piece of hair around her finger multiple times and biting her lip.

"SHH," replied Sora, who was closer to the wall that separated them from Cloud and the emo kid, as he very obviously attempted to eavesdrop. Kairi did as she was told though her face said how much she didn't approve of these actions. The two minors were silent for a while before, "Shit. I can't hear them at all," Sora hissed under his breath, which made Kairi sigh.

"I kinda want to go, Sora," she stated.

"Fine, we can go," he said smiling fondly as his friend, he didn't like being so inconsiderate, it wasn't like him, but when it came to stuff that could involve Riku, he seemed to think differently. He got up and picked up his drink which was only about half way done, Kairi followed and the two left. As they walked around the side of the building Sora couldn't help but look in the window where he knew the other two were sitting and he gasped rather loudly at what he saw: Cloud locked in a passionate kiss with the emo kid. Sora didn't know how to think about that, but he ended with a smirk on his face and a rather flamboyant walk as the two headed for the park. Though they didn't really speak for the entire walk, and just sipped away at their still hot drinks.

Their walk to the park officially ended as they sat down on the swings at the abandoned park. With just that, conversation was struck up. "Why are you happy all of a sudden?" Kairi asked Sora as the brunette started to swing slowly, a huge smile on his face.

"Did you look in at the last moment, you know, at Cloud and the emo kid?" he asked.

"No…" Kairi said, not knowing what to expect Sora to say next.

"Well if you had you would have seen the two sucking face," Sora said with a laugh.

"Why the hell would that make you happy?" Kairi asked, very obviously upset, "If that's what you actually saw, which I don't believe, can't you feel at least a little sorry for Riku?" she asked, not completely believing what Sora was saying.

"Like I'd ever feel sorry for that bastard! You know about all the shit he's done to me," Sora fought back. "And I DID see Cloud kissing that guy, I know I did."

"Okay…Sora, I've been meaning to ask you this since Friday…" Kairi started, starting to believe what the brunette was saying, the fact that the two hadn't said anything when they sat down had been slightly strange, but now she was asking something that she was really curious about. "Why did you tell Riku you were going out with Axel?" It seemed to get a reaction from Sora.

"W-why?" he stammered then he paused as he thought about it, "I-I don't know…I just…" He paused again. "I just thought I'd show Riku that…uh, he's not the only one who can have friends, or even relationships with older, cooler people," he said, but as he said it he was pretty sure it didn't make any sense and he mentally kicked himself for not having a reason, not a reason at all. It had all been impulse when he had done it, like his mind had been working on its own and controlling what he said. It didn't seem to convince Kairi though, but she dropped it anyway.

"So you really think Cloud's cheating on Riku?" she asked taking another sip of her almost done drink, letting the swing sway gently.

"Well it sure looked like it," Sora said nodding, having finished his drink he had put the cup on the ground and covered it slightly so it wouldn't blow away and he could throw it out later. He started to really swing as he thought. "I mean…I don't think people who are just friends kiss like that," he said.

"Well…I feel bad for Riku, it must be hard to have a boyfriend who's graduated from school before you and you don't know what they do during school hours," Kairi said, sympathy laced through her words. It made Sora frown.

"I think Riku deserves whatever he gets," Sora said with finality. Everything went quiet and the two didn't talk much at all until they decided it was about time they got home.

Sora's walk was much shorter then Kairi's and where the split ways they said goodbye and Sora hurried down the street and into his house. Everything was silent and quiet when he walked into the house and he locked the door behind him. He looked at a clock it was only nine thirty, they hadn't been out very long, he had at least expected to kill a little more then an hour and a half out, and he was sure they would've if he hadn't made everything so awkward in the end. He sighed and headed to his room. He fell into bed and was asleep within minutes.

"Sora, wake up honey. Dinner's ready." A voice said as someone shook his shoulder and he slowly started to wake up.

"Just five more minutes…." he whined, making the woman, who he could now identify as his mother laugh.

"No, right now, come on." She said shaking him a little more.

"What time is it…?" he asked, his hand coming up and covering his eyes as he rolled over on his bed.

"Six in the afternoon."

"When'd you get home?"

"Five."

"Oh…all right. Can I eat in here?" he asked pulling his hand away from his face and looking at his mom.

"No. Now come on, if you finish quickly you can go back to sleep faster."

Finish quickly he did. He was never slow when it came to eating and the food set in front of him was gone within minutes and he stretched, full and happy, completely forgetting about what had happened that day, and luckily managing to be back in bed before his mother could question him about his day. But she did manage to ask, "Did you hang out with Kairi today?"

"Yeah, for a while, we went and got hot chocolate," he replied.

"Wow, you seem really tired."

"I am." And that was the end of their conversation before Sora let himself fall back asleep, not knowing what to expect on Monday and at school again, and just before he dozed off he decided he would tell Riku what he saw that day. Then everything was dark as sleep enveloped him once again.

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**I am very ashamed of myself for not having this up sooner. I've been so busy though. I'm working on a few stories, writing/drawing presents and working on my new RP site... Speaking of which, i am looking for Yaoi fans to join it. You can create the yaoi i've been depriving you of in this story. I need people who know how to write...what a better place to look then here on yaoifantasy . forumotion . com it would help a lot...and please, read the rules before joining.**

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HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

**~Fire **


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